mice or rat for a...

[nickykci]

I got a question, I recently got 2 mice to get them breeding for my corn snake....my corn snake is around 3ft, he is 9 months old now...

anyways, I'm starting to think I should have gone with rats though, since mice take a while to grow up, and rats are born a good size already... plus i just dont like mice, too squirmy for me lol

what do you guys think? right now im feeding my corn juvi mice, hoppers or weanlings..i dunno the pet shop dont know the name for it, i just go by size... but i think rat pinkis or fuzzis should be good?

thanks for any opinion and ideas :)

[Auskan]

You're right that mice take longer to grow. I breed both, and just feed whatever I have the most of :) I think there are pros and cons both ways. The rat v mice is something people debate hotly on here and I'm not going to get into it. A consideration I believe is important is that whereas a 1-2 week old rat will only have milk in its belly, a mouse of the equivalent size will be weaned and have a variety of food in its belly. Since snakes get their "grains" from the stomach contents of their prey, I believe its a good idea to feed mice from time to time, even if the main diet is rats.

[ATBlover]

rats are much harder and more expensive to breed...even if its only 2 of em...Connor

[sapphire_moon]

no it isn't, put a male and female together, let them do their thing. Mice actually eat more, they have a higher metabolisim than rats!

I've never had any problems with breeding rats.

When we had our corn, and started feeding her on rats, her growth exploded, I only feed once a week (every 7 days) not fat, but had weight on her. Very food agresive and NEVER turned down a meal.

[Auskan]

Originally posted by ATBlover
rats are much harder and more expensive to breed...even if its only 2 of em...Connor

This is the first time I've ever heard this! I don't find rats hard to breed at all. They do need larger enclosures. However they are less likely to cannibalise their young, are excellent parents, have larger litters than mice (on average). I can't think of any factor that makes them harder to breed than mice.

Originally posted by sapphire_moon
Mice actually eat more, they have a higher metabolisim than rats!

They do have a higher metabolism and for their weight eat more than rats, however rats eat more overall due to their much larger size.

[nickykci]

thanks for the imput guys, would a 20gal aquerium be big enough for a pair of rats?

and can you leave male and female rat together at all times like mice? or do i need to have them seperate after some time or when the female dilvers the babies?

i think i might get a pair of each hehe

for the size of my corn, i still feed him every 5 days, when is it good to prolong the wait at 7 days? my corn is a very good eater, never refuses a meal...the last time i fed him, he defecated like 2 days after, and im sure he would have taken another meal at that time, but its better to wait right?

[Auskan]

Personally I don't like keeping rats in aquariums as they don't provide good ventilation. Also, rats like to be able to climb and snooze somewhere up high, so I prefer a cage that allows them to do that. I know, I know, these are not PET rats, but I believe in providing as close to optimum conditions as possible for all of my animals, regardless of their purpose in life.

Yes, the male rat can be left in. I find that male mice actually make better fathers than male rats, which tend to pretty much ignore the offspring, but on the other hand, they don't hurt the young either. In both rats and mice, the male and female will mate again soon after the female delivers, so the second litter will be born 3-4 weeks after the first and so on.

When your corn is 12-18 months old is a good time to drop back to feeding every 7 days. I wouldn't feed after only two days. I do sometimes mix up my feeding schedules, making them wait 10 days one time, or another time feeding them again after only 4 days, as I think this more closely mimics their "natural" feeding schedule in the wild. They are opportunistic feeders so if another meal presents itself shortly after they have eaten, they will go ahead and eat it, in case it is a long time before they are able to feed again, so it won't hurt them once in a while. But its not a good idea to feed at close intervals on a regular basis.