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Mice vs. Rats

Pink Lady Exotics

Pink Lady Exotics

"Queen Quarantine"
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Anyone have opinions on mice vs. rats? Spoon has always eaten live weanling/small rats, but PetSmart didn't have any small enough for him tonight. So I bought mice instead, thinking 3 or 4 of them would be the same as a small rat. I noticed he took them when a lot more enthusiasm/gusto than he does with rats...every time I've fed him a rat, he seems intimidated or nervous and it takes him a minute to feel ready to strike. He's also always refused pre-killed rats, he knows the difference between dead and live prey. With the mice, I hardly had it dangling for 5 seconds, he struck instantly on the first 2. The last one, I stunned it a little too hard and it died, but I offered it to him anyway...and he took it. He didn't strike, he just nosed up to it, grabbed it gently, and swallowed it down...no constricting. I've never seen him take dead prey.

I almost think he likes them better than rats...the others all had mice tonight too and they all seemed more enthusiastic about feeding than usual when I offer rats.

VPI's website says this:

Ball pythons eat mice all their life. One appropriately-sized mouse per week is an adequate feeding schedule. Older and larger snakes may eat two or three mice, or one small rat a week.
Click to expand...

:confused:
 
I know quite a few people that feed some of their adult bps mice and have some myself. It is just a preference thing. It is like you stated earlier, it will take more mice. If you are comfortable with it and your snake does well, it will be fine.
 
I'm perfectly fine with feeding him whatever it is that he prefers, I just want him to be healthy. The same goes for the others as well.

I fed leftover mice that the babies didn't want to Java last week, and he loved them too. I almost wonder if they prefer them because they're not so intimidating and are easier to constrict/eat.

When I bought the 8 feeders tonight, they also happened to have a pregnant female...so I bought her, another girl, and a male...I figured it'd be easier to breed my own. The prego one is white, the male is white with brown blotches, and the female is black, so I figured it would give me a good color mix.
 
Questions?? How do you "stun" the mice first of all, and which ones are cheaper? Mice or Rats? I mean Mice you'd have to buy more of. I talked to my landlord (well her son), and he said we could have a Ball Python!!!!! YEAH FOR ME!! Now WAIT! I still have no car and don't want to have a bad conscious. Going another winter without a car really sucks for me, but I said by next income tax I will have one or else! Which means my BP will be next Spring to hopefully!! My next Pet will be a couple of Rats though! I figure that should hold me over. A couple from work have Rats. Its funny she squirms when I talk about feeding Jake! Shes the one thats talked me into getting the Rats and she knows I'm getting a BP! LOL No, these ones won't be feeders, but the BP will feed. I figure I'd be better to get them first, at least if it ever got out I'd know where to find it! An then maybe I could breed some mice to, gain some knowledge. Later
 
Congrats! :dancer01:

Mice are $1.99 here, rats are $3.99 for smalls, which he eats 1-2 of. I stun the mice the same way I would kill them, only I hit with less force. They're put into a sock or held by the tail and whacked against a hard surface (the wall). To stun them, I don't hit as hard so it basically gives them a big headache and they stop squiggling and don't know what's going on. The last mouse I hit a tad too hard (or his head hit just right) and he died. Spoon ate him anyway though.. :)
 
you can also stun mice by flicking their heads hard with your fingers while holding them by the tail. then you can drop them in with your snake with less worry about a fight.
 
i fed my 2'5" BP small rats, no problem, once he actually even ate his small rat and stole the large rat i had gotten for my 4'8" BP, i was amazed, but as long as the rats arent biting, i see no reason not to feed them, when i first got my larger snake, he wouldnt touch anything but gerbils, he dropped that habit when gerbil prices hit $15 a pop.
 
Alan, didn't you just recommend to someone with a 16" ball python, who had it eating either large mice or small rats, feed it only one fuzzy weekly?

How can you say that in one thread and then brag about another ball only a tad over a foot longer eating a small AND a large rat?

Perhaps you should amend your post to that other person to reflect accurate information.
 
A) I feed live rats, not that frozen crap, B) i have a large cage and i fed one on one side and one on the other, the large rat just ran over to the other side of the cage, i always had shit blocking the 2 sides, but this rat scaled that shit like a mountain goat, once my smaller snake got ahold of him, my other snake wont touch it, its happened a few times and i hap to throw out the rat because my larger snake would simply not eat it.
 
This is a family site, leave the swearing out!!!!! Thats what this smilie is for!!! :censored:
 
JenHarrison said:
Congrats! :dancer01:

Mice are $1.99 here, rats are $3.99 for smalls, which he eats 1-2 of. I stun the mice the same way I would kill them, only I hit with less force. They're put into a sock or held by the tail and whacked against a hard surface (the wall). To stun them, I don't hit as hard so it basically gives them a big headache and they stop squiggling and don't know what's going on. The last mouse I hit a tad too hard (or his head hit just right) and he died. Spoon ate him anyway though.. :)
Click to expand...
That's what I like to see, humane killing of rodents. :uzi:
 
I prefer rats. I really hate having to feed 2-3 mice to each snake. I try to get babies on rat pups ASAP.

Thankfully all of mine except one take f/t so I order all different sizes in bulk. I have an order going in on Friday that will run about $300 but that will last probably 3 to 3 1/2 months. Much cheaper than petstores. The one I do have to use live on costs me $7.99 per rat per week for the large adults (or at least the petstore call them large :rolleyes: ).




bluecorall77,

You may think it's ok to feed live by placing it on the other side but one day that prey will fight back. Monitor it carefully and NEVER leave it in there all by itself.

Also, keep the swearing out of the main forums. Try the hell froum if you feel the need to use that language.
 
jglass38 said:
That's what I like to see, humane killing of rodents. :uzi:
Click to expand...

As opposed to getting impaled by needle teeth and strangled to death by a snake? If I were a rodent, I'd prefer a quick hard impact to that.
 
I tried to stay out of this - really I did! And I'm not a big poster here - I normally lurk and read.

First of all, a stunned mouse or rat "can" come out of it, then you're dealing with an angry prey item - much more dangerous for your snake.

Secondly - to the poster who's feeding two snakes in the same enclosure - what are you thinking??? :slamit:

I currently have fourteen ball pythons. I am a live feeder.

Feeding live - if done responsibly is just as safe as feeding f/t or p/k (and IMHO - safer than feeding stunned that can come out of it).

Ball pythons are quite capable of killing their prey, and killing it efficiently. There's no good reason for the prey to be stunned. If you're going to stun - make the move to pre-killed (done in a humane method and the American Veterinarian Association only recognizes CO2 chambers as a humane method for pre-killing mice and rats).

I have two adult females feeding on one small rat a week, four babies feeding on one small adult mouse a week, and 10 yearlings feeding on two large adult mice a week.

I feed on the same day each week at the same time. I keep to the same routine. I scent the room with the prey item for at least 30 minutes prior to feeding (put the kritter keepers holding the mice or rats on top of the rack, or on the desk where the tubs are). I feed in the same order each time. None of the prey items last more than one minute before they are hit and constricted. If a mouse or rat tries to bite, my snakes constrict tighter, and the mouse or rat become more concerned with trying to get their next breath than biting. No bites have ever broken the skin.

Whichever method you choose - live feeding, pre-killed, frozen-thawed - you owe it to all the animals involved to treat them humanely and with respect.

I don't care what you feed - as long as your snakes are happy and feeding.
I DO care how you treat the animals, and IMHO, stunning is inhumane and quite frankly, just not necessary.

OK stepping down from my soapbox now.
 
rabernet said:
I don't care what you feed - as long as your snakes are happy and feeding. I DO care how you treat the animals, and IMHO, stunning is inhumane and quite frankly, just not necessary.
Click to expand...

It is when you have a snake or two that tends to not grab the prey correctly and opens itself up to getting bitten, but refuses to eat dead food of any kind.
 
JenHarrison said:
As opposed to getting impaled by needle teeth and strangled to death by a snake? If I were a rodent, I'd prefer a quick hard impact to that.
Click to expand...

Is this what you meant by a quick hard impact?

"I don't hit as hard so it basically gives them a big headache and they stop squiggling and don't know what's going on."


Ridiculous....
 
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