Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was curious about them.........i.e. for breeding/feeding purposes with stubborn import snakes.......

I would think that they may be more willing to feed on a more natural/familiar smelling prey item.......

Thqnks,

Jared Horenstein

You are on a loser there Jared. It is illegal to keep or import the majority of the African mouse/rat species into the States. I made enquiries about shipping some Multimammate Rats over to Ralph and was told that they would not allow them into the country! Eric

Hes right it is illegal and for one single reason.. THEY ARE PESTS... the first day they would be imported to america there would be a few escapes.... leading to breeding and we'd have a whole another countries mice pest problem never mind ours.. If you want a good african prey item... breed some gerbils... thats the ball pythons main diet in africa and they love em

LOLOL, for any of you that got into that last little discusion about gerbils and there place(s) of origin. Let's try not ta do that again

Quig

Sneaky pete are you trying to say one of their origins isnt from africa? because that fact is on alot of dif ball python care sheets in the "feeding" section.

LOL, be that as it may, we had about a page worth of discussion about Gerbils and where they came from, live now ,will move to , a while back. I believe it was decided that it was Gerboas, who are similar in appearance,that were Ball Pythons natural prey.

Quig

Do i need to pull some proof up?

Chris, I have probably read as many, if not more, care sheets for Balls as you have. Many DO say gerbils are their main source of food in the wild. For several years I used gerbils exclusively because they DO work. Then again, mine will eat anything put in front of them as long as they are 'appropraite sized' rodents. Do what you will, I ain't gettin' into a pi**in' match over what they do or don't eat in the wild. Just my really not in the mood for an arguement opinion.

Quig

Not this argument again - who cares what they eat in the wild they aren't in the wild fending for their lives, they are in a tank or tub in your house getting fed once a week.

LOL - OK so according to the SURVEY OF THE STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF THE ROYAL PYTHON (Python regius) IN GHANA May 1997 the following are a list of rodents that inhabit the same areas as ball pythons and are considered their main prey:

African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus); black rat (Rattus rattus rattus and R. r. alexandrinus); kusus rat (Arvicanthis niloticus); rufous-bellied rat (Lophuromys sikapusi); shaggy rat (Dasymys incomtus); spotted grass mouse (Lemniscomys striatus); shining thicket rat (Thamnomys rutilans); Fox’s brush-furred rat
(Uranomys foxi); Tullberg’s rat (Praomys tullbergi); multimammate rat (Mastomys natalensis); long-tailed target rat (Stochomys longicaudatus); and, pygmy mouse (Mus musculoides)

Ok - can we move on. Yeah I know balls aren't only in Ghana but is it really that important. If it is I side with Jeraboa over Gerbil. LOL.
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Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline

LOL thanks Tosha. In truth, yer right, unless they are wild caught they can be conditioned to eat anything in rodent form. And I like the list. Maybe I'll keep that for future reference.

And Chris, I ment no offence, just didn't want to get back into this whole thing. Truce?

Quig

Jared,
Give Doug Beard (Flora & Fauna) from down you way a call. I spoke to him a couple of months ago and remember him telling me about a new breed of rat that he was gearing up to breed on a big scale. I will be honest, I can't remember the specifics, but as I remember this is a new rat to the USA and very similar to african rats. It would be worth a call.
Grant Whitmer

P.S. Has your stripe x YB clutch hatched out yet?

there are Nile rats here but they aren't cheap and they ook almost the same as a brown rat.......maybe smell the same too I bet

need a new rodent?

hamsters .syrian,chinese,russian,roborovski's,djungarian..........gerbils.,.......jirds....duprasi........degu.......peromyscus mice........spiny mice........yes....I have fed them........baby rabbits.....guinea pigs.........?quail.......pigeons...chicks......
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.......................z

Exciting.

What about monkeypox, and the lassus virus that seems to be wide spread? I'm no expert, just very cautious when feeding my snakes.

I would definately be interested in any "hybrid" or new strain of rat.........that Doug Beard may have or be working on.

Drop me a line Jared if you find anything out..........!
karl4244@yahoo.com

Can you cross a rat with a gerbil?...........I'll try it this week........no promises though.

Thanx,
Karl