cal king feeders and size question

[jossh27]

i usually feed my fully grown cal king two adult mice bi weekly. the store i bought the feeders from this time ddin't have adult (full grown) mice, so i went with two medium size. now, the girl offered me 2 rats that were about the size of average full grown mice... is there any difference in nutrition or anything like that if i were to have bought the rats instead?

why mice vs. rats?



josh

[Minkness]

I can't say for certain but I have heard that rats are a bit fattier and have a slightly higher calcium level due to larger bones. Some people may say that if it's the same size there's no difference. So really it's up to you. =)

[Obsidian_Dragon]

Some snakes, having been on mice, don't switch easily to rats.

[prairiepanda]

Since the rats were the size of mice, they must have been fairly young. Younger animals tend to contain more fat, which helps with their growth. That's great if you have a growing snake, but I would stick to feeding mature prey to an adult snake.

That said, occasionally offering young rats instead of mice wouldn't hurt if the snake was willing to eat them. Two things would make the attempt inconvenient for you: 1) your snake might not eat the rats because he's used to mice, and 2) rats cost more than mice. I'd just go with the smaller mice in this case. Or you could find out when the store's frozen rodent shipment comes in and judge whether it's worth the wait for your usual mice.

[Albert Clark]

Originally Posted by jossh27

i usually feed my fully grown cal king two adult mice bi weekly. the store i bought the feeders from this time ddin't have adult (full grown) mice, so i went with two medium size. now, the girl offered me 2 rats that were about the size of average full grown mice... is there any difference in nutrition or anything like that if i were to have bought the rats instead?

why mice vs. rats?



josh

Yes there are nutritional differences in rats and mice. Crude protein %, fat%, moisture%, calcium% are a few. The main thing is to know the weight of your snake and go by the 15% to 20% rule. Also remember , variety is one of the keys in feeding to keep the snake healthy. Mice and rats are both good choices in a varied diet. Get a scale and weigh your animal and know the amount of food he should be getting.

[jossh27]

Okay thanks guys/girls

I usually don't buy from this place it was just a convenience that i happened to be at that store and i found out they sell feeders and it happened to be feeding day

[Albert Clark]

Originally Posted by jossh27

Okay thanks guys/girls

I usually don't buy from this place it was just a convenience that i happened to be at that store and i found out they sell feeders and it happened to be feeding day

And that is fine. It's just a good way to insure you are getting the proper amount of nutrition into the reptile. You can get a cheap scale on Amazon or eBay. This way you stay on top of his weight and track his gains. Peace.

[Chris72]

Jossh,

Vey little difference (you can search at RodentPro.com) in nutrition, but there is some.

Most (most) keepers stick with rats since it's easier to feed on small rats than 2 adult mice. (Time, cost, etc).

As previously mentioned it becomes harder to swap out mice, for rats, with age of your snake so if you think you want him on rats down the road switch to rats now.

This morning I watched a youtube vid of a wild adult king eating a Rattkesnake. (Slo-mo was amazing.) So if you are happy with mice, stay happy. If you find challenges switching to rats, from mice, let us know. (There are tricks).


Heath' & Chris

[Chris72]

(Duplicate post) my bad.

[jjhill001]

Originally Posted by Chris72

(Duplicate post) my bad.

You have the link to that video?

One thing to note is that kingsnakes aren't like ball pythons that they'll be dumb about specific colors of prey and crap like that. I don't think you'd have a problem with giving a small rat every now and again.

[drumcrush]

I feed my king small rats, actually ready for two small rats now.