Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'd like to get opinions from y'all. Given a snake that can eat both which would you feed: a 20 ounce Fuzzy Rat or a 20 ounce adult mouse???? Thanks!

Pastor Pat

Pardon the stupid mistake!!!!! I am a Pastor because of stuff like this!!!

Pat

Pat,
I would go with the rat for the snakes in my colony. I would expect there to be less hair on the rat to bother with during digestion, and a better surface to mass ratio to "aid" in digestion. I also try to get my kings started on rats ASAP, just as a preference. I would have to find and check a whole foods analysis chart if I was seriously concerned about nutrient differences, but I doubt there would be significant differences.
respectfully my .02,
Daveb

First off, I do not have large snakes that eat large rats. If I had a choice of feeding a large adult mouse compared to a rat pup (same size in weight ie.), I would choose the mouse. I am thinking that the mouse would provide more calcium (bones) than a rat pup. I do not have any scientific data to prove this either way. Just an assumption. Ya, I know.......

I do raise my own rats and mice (1,500-2,000 per month). I have some snakes that will only take mice and some that will take either rat or mice products.

I'm not too worried about the hair on the mice...... well, maybe I ought to shave my mice before feeding...anyone have any mouse sheers?? Just kidding Dave.

Kerby...

SAS in Germantown NY breeds this cultivar of hairless mice. Many moons ago I used to buy them all the time as they were good sized, hairless and the cheapest item available. SO at one time I had animals that went from egg to breeding without touching a hair, hahaha.
I stopped buying them when my order kept getting screwed up and when I found better prices on rats.
I don't get overly concerned about calcium from vertebrate prey. its in the bones but also in the bloodstream, tissue, everywhere. Apparently there is enough Ca present for the pinky mouse or day old chick to perform life functions and thrive (egg eating snakes seem to do OK too, spitting out the shell and without eating bones) so they should be adequate as part of a "balanced diet", whatever that might be.
let me know when you find those clippers.I have also heard of folks skinning prey for fussy eaters... I bet that gets old pretty fast.
daveb

not Boa constrictors.

I have been told that rat pups are more fatty then mice. Is this true?

but they're fine kingsnake food, the problem with rats is the average adult rat is way to big for the average adult Lampropeltis,imo

i agree...though some monsters come close.
i don't offer huge rats, for adults i utilize juvenile rats 40g up to 100g for my biggest male. if they don't like rats then my kings get adult mice, chicks, whatever works.
db

Unweaned mice and rats usually have plenty of calcium, because they more often than not have a belly full of milk. There have been nutritional studies that prove this out.

Pinky/fuzzy rats are a good way to "fatten snakes up" after they've laid a clutch of eggs. Snakes seem to put on weight more quickly when fed small hairless rats vs. adult mice.

Interestingly, I've had a couple of snakes (a Honduran milksnake and a Mexican pine snake) that had trouble digesting pinky/fuzzy rats and would always poop out the rodent's skin. When given mice with hair, they didn't do this.

Tim

Third Eye

In the late 1990's I had a pair of adult Snow corns that would take rat products (large pinks/small pups) and regurge them every time, but would never regurege a large adult mouse. When I asked around, other herpers had told me that the rat skin was thicker and harder to digest even without the hair. I have no idea if this is true.

Kerby...