Different types of food to feed your ball, opinion?

[Morgan says]

So for the last four months my ball python would not eat anything at all. The first time he was starting to become picky to eating after two weeks he ate almost three small mice! Then he did not eat another one for a month. Yesterday he finally ate a gerbil. I was wondering if a gerbil had the same nutrition as a mouse or a rat? I know they are the closest thing to their natural food source so I am curious about it.