Feed Guide for Newbies (Rats v Mice)

[jarich]

An interesting write up, but still sort of misses the point in my opinion. Both are perfectly acceptable food items, if fed in quantity.

While the amounts you are speaking of regarding the different vitamins and minerals may be true, you dont go into the actual requirements of the animal. Though one may have a statistically significant amount more than the other, the question remains: is that necessary? Does the rat lack the necessary calcium? Does the mouse not have enough iron or zinc? As there is no evidence to support those claims, it appears that this is not the case.

Your growth rate chart also stops at four months. What happens after? What happens when both groups are raised to adults? Would this chart then even out? If so, what difference does it make how quickly they grow? It also does not state a source so that we can check out how many were used in each group (is it statistically significant or were there only one or two animals used in each group). How many mice were fed and how many rats? Were the subjects all from different family lines or not? Obviously genetics will play a large role in growth rates also.

While it seems you spent some good time on this, it also seems you have researched to back up your preconceived notion as opposed to researching to find out the answer. When you are talking the difference between mice and rats, the amount you feed your snake seems much more important than which is fed. The rest is simply preference.