Nutritional comparisson of pinky rat to fuzzy mouse

ChristinaM · 03-24-04, 11:50 PM

Hey guys, I moved this out of Karma's thread cuz it deserves it's own.

I have a prey analysis, and actually looked up the info. I will see if I can find the website I got it from and put the link up. It's a pdf file with alot of info, very worth a look.

But, to the topic at hand. This is what I found:

domestic mouse size 3-10g vs rat neonatal under 10g

mouse: protein 44.2% Crude fat: 30.1% Cal: 6.65 per gram
rat: protein 57.9% Crude fat: 23.7% Cal: 5.30 per gram

mouse: calcium 1.47%
rat: calcium 1.85%

there's alot more info in this file, including other vitamins, etc. Lots of info.

If you want it, pm me with your email addy and I will send it to you ( unless I find the link first )

But, in regards to the topic. By the looks of things, rat vs mouse, rat exceeds in nutrition.

morph · 03-24-04, 11:57 PM

Wouldn't that all vary greatly dependant on diet?

Scott

Cruciform · 03-25-04, 12:03 AM

http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp

This one's been posted a few times too

ChristinaM · 03-25-04, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cruciform
http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp

This one's been posted a few times too

By golly, that's the same charting I have

The only diffrence is the pdf file I have is 20pgs.....it has alot of info written as well as the charts. But they are the same charts.

ChristinaM · 03-25-04, 12:19 AM

FOUND IT:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showt...ht=information

BoidKeeper · 03-25-04, 06:43 AM

I feed both my rats and mice the same food so I guess that must by default make my rats better.
As for a fuzzy mouse or a rat pinky. I go for the rat pinky every time. Eaiser to digest because of the lack of fur.
Cheers,
Trevor

Tigergenesis · 03-25-04, 10:54 AM

Here's the 20 page doc:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/zoo/Who...nal02May29.pdf

I talked with my vet about it and he said that yes you really have to consider the rodents diet, etc. And the study results don't show a huge difference to make it a big issue as to which one is better to feed.

Tigergenesis · 03-25-04, 11:03 AM

Here's another way to look at it - mouse vs. rat of similiar age rather than size:

Mouse, neonatal <3grams: 64.2% protein, 17.0% fat, 4.87 gross energy kcal/g
Rat, neonatal <10grams: 57.9% protein, 23.7% fat, 5.30 gross energy kcal/g

Now the mouse looks better! Yes, it would take 2-3 mice this size to equal the size of 1 neonatal rat - but the meal would be healthier (at least in terms of protein). Which is better to do (feeding 2 smaller prey versus 1 large) according to my vet.

HeatherK · 03-25-04, 11:21 AM

If you double the mouse meal rather than one rat, you'll see that you're also doubling all of those figures, not excluding fat.

I kept hearing that mice are higher in fat than rats - concern in captive snakes - but judging by the chart, it looks like not.. at least comparing an adult mouse to a younger rat (I don't think corns are fed adult rats all that often). Although some of those figures look a little 'off' to me.

Most of the time I hear the rat eating snakes become larger than the mouse eaters, although that's unscientific. Rats do have a lot more 'to' them, which would explain higher nutrional content. Proof is in the pudding I suppose

From a nutritional standpoint, it's of course best to raise your own rodents. I was thinking of doing this myself, but it's probably uneconomical when you only have one or two snakes.

marisa · 03-25-04, 11:50 AM

You know the way I look at it is this....these snakes eat whatever they can catch in the wild, as often as they can catch it. That might be a parasite filled anole every month and some still grow up to adults and mate (yes yes i know how many in the wild die)

So if I am feeding a steady healthy clean diet of mice or rats....I think everything is all good.

What concerns me more than the prey item is people who over feed adults. I see photos of corns that are FAT and its sad.

Marisa

Auskan · 03-25-04, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HeatherK
If you double the mouse meal rather than one rat, you'll see that you're also doubling all of those figures, not excluding fat.

That would be correct if we were talking grams of protein & fat, but since we're talking percentages, nothing is doubled just by feeding two items rather than one.

sapphire_moon · 03-25-04, 06:32 PM

ya, but if one mouse is almost 65% protien and add another mouse, you are still doubling the amount of protiene (and other nutrients)
Seems like that to me (but I never majored in math anyways!)

sleddergirl · 03-25-04, 07:04 PM

But if you feed 2 mice or one rat, it doesn't matter the protein is still 65% of the meal............

sapphire_moon · 03-25-04, 11:37 PM

but isn't the protein a main thing you want in the snakes food?

Does anyone know how much protein/fat that a snake is supposed to have?

HeatherK · 03-26-04, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Auskan
That would be correct if we were talking grams of protein & fat, but since we're talking percentages, nothing is doubled just by feeding two items rather than one.

When you're looking at an item's values, percentages are different than grams, yes, however anytime you feed (or eat) twice a serving size let's say, the body still gets double the amount of whatever is in just one. It doesn't matter whether the figures are expressed in percentages, grams, ounces, etc.

And that's another good question about this snake nutrition thing. I really have no idea of how much protein and fat they require in figures. With snakes becoming more popular in captivity, it would make sense to get this kind of information available.