I've read alot about what people feed their snakes and most of them seem to prefer rats instead of mice. Why? I'm researching what I am going to feed my Ball Python or Corn Snake (don't know which yet) and am not sure what I should start raising for feed. Thank you for your time.

Herpie

Rats are more nutritional I believe..I feed mice..

Not sure but I think it depends on the size of the snake what is fed. Our corns have just graduated to fuzzy mice. I don't belive corns ever get large enough to eat rats. Ok, I'm probably wrong, but what's new!!!

Hello,

I have a 4 year old corn (Rayne) and she can't take a rat. If she could, I would feed them. Rats are indeed more nutritional than mice. My BP (Kyros) eats the rats and my corn eats the mice.

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i have a corn snake who's almost 4 years old who just last week took a rat for the first time that was just a little bigger than a large adult mouse. he took it pretty easily and didn't eat this week so I think i'll be doing one small rat every two weeks now. my other corn is on fuzzies still and my rosy boa eats mice.

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yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

My corn is a rat eating machine! As long as the rat is the same size girth as the snake, they can eat them right up.

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Some think they can. Some wish they could. Some do.

rats are more nutritional than mice, I feed most of mine on rats, if you change from mice to rats you would see a big difference in weight gain instantly, I do with mine, fuller belly happier snake lol, I have found with rats you dont have to feed as often as you do with mice either, its like having a big fry up vs cereal for breakfast lol

A lot of it depends on the size of the snake. Rats do have more meat to them than similar sized mice. A ball python is going to neeed rats eventually or you will have to be feeding it a lot of mice at a setting! I feed my adult corns on rat pups. I recently tried my 4ft+ corn Lefty with one of the small rats that I feed my larger snakes. It wasn't much bigger around than his girth. He got it down but it took a lot of work and a lot of time. Next time its back to rat pups.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I have been told that a mouse has more calcium then rats and rats
have more protien is this true does any one know of any studies done
to prove what is better I feed my snakes rats because that is what
I breed but would like to know what is better depending on the size
of the snake

I only buy mice for the few animals that still refuse rats.

I buy bags of frozen rat pups for most of the smaller snakes. All of my corns are on rats, ranging in size from pinkies through smalls (for my large adult male anery). My six month-old corns are taking rat pinkies like popcorn. Not trying to powerfeed...but fwiw, young rats (most rats for that matter) have much softer bones than mice. So not only are they better nutritionally, but those softer bones are a lot easier for a snake to digest. I'm guessing they can pull more calcium out before they pass it. That's something we all want for our reptiels, isn't it? Yeah, I think so.

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