• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

nutritional considerations of feeding rats

ashleynicole

ashleynicole

New member
Our 2005 male okeetee eats 3-4 large f/t mice each week. He gets fed every Sunday. Occasionally he has eaten a rat that my ball python wouldn't eat. So I was thinking it is much more economical to feed one small rat vs 4 mice. Is there any nutritional contraindcation/?
Thanks
 
How much does your Corn snake weigh? Majority of (average) Corns do just fine with one large mouse every 7 days, & often males are fed every two weeks as adults.
Some of my larger Corns, I do feed 1 XL adult mice, on the 7 day & 14 day schedule.
I cannot imagine a Corn needing 3-4 large mice (or adult rats).
 
I don't know his exact weight but everyone is impressed with him when they see him. With the 3 -4 move you can barely see a lump in his belly. With a small rat you can barely see a lump. The guys out of the herp farm said he is one of the nicest corns he's ever seen.
 
He may be overweight. There was a thread earlier today with a corn that was eating the same amount and it is extremely obese. An adult corn only needs one large/jumbo mouse a week. Rats, especially younger ones- like you'd feed your corn snake- are high in fat and low in calcium, so eventually it may lead to calcium deficiencies. Would you be able to post a pic of your snake?
 
I knew about the fat vs protein content was a little different, but I didn't think it was to the point it would cause a calcium defeciency. Do you have any research to back that up? Legitiment articles?

He is not overweight. We went out to a few experts the other day and they said he was one of the most beautiful and healthy looking corns he has ever seen. Here are a few pics from last week.
 

Attachments

  • IMAG1718 (299x500).jpg
    IMAG1718 (299x500).jpg
    164.4 KB · Views: 39
  • IMAG1717 (299x500).jpg
    IMAG1717 (299x500).jpg
    163.5 KB · Views: 40
Also, when he eats less than 3 mice, he is usually out and about the next day. When he eats 3 or more he stays hunkered down for about 24 hours. Even the frozen mice I buy are awefully scrawny, and they don't even leave a visible lump. A small rat leaves a visible lump and it would seem to me it is better to let them have one item as opposed to swallowing 3 or 4.
 

Attachments

  • IMAG1720 (299x500).jpg
    IMAG1720 (299x500).jpg
    119.5 KB · Views: 39
  • IMAG1716 (299x500).jpg
    IMAG1716 (299x500).jpg
    162.3 KB · Views: 39
We learned about the calcium deficiency in my reptiles class that I am taking for zoology. It would make sense though, feeding younger prey that doesn't have fully formed bones can cause issues. That's why it is most recommended to feed adult mice to corns vs rats.

Your guy doesn't look too bad, but it looks like you can see skin between his scales in the second pic. I still would not feed him any more than a jumbo mouse once a week. Here is the other thread I mentioned earlier about the obese corn: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117884
 
The first pic in the second post also seems to show a considerable amount of skin between the scales, perhaps I am just seeing it incorrectly? In the end, it is your snake, and you can feed it how you want. I would consider the snake overweight, since an adult corn only needs a jumbo mouse once every week to three weeks, but that is IMHO.
 
Looking at those pics, he does look a bit overweight. I would not say obese, but he appears a bit on the heavy side.

My corns over 500 grams get one XL mouse per week (the males get fed every two weeks).

Edit to add I have a few corns over 500grams, one is over 800 grams.
 
my corn looks nothing like the one in that other picture. There are times when I have gone 2 - 3 weeks without feeding ours. It is rare but has happened before. Ours has smooth scales from head to toe. Maybe the way he was bent when we were trying to take a pic of his underbelly made them appear to gap but they are smooth. There are no buldges or fatty deposits like the ones on the snake in that other thread.
 
Also, even the small rats are adults so their bones should have sufficient calcium content. I checked out a website that shows nutritional content and it seems that the difference is negligible.
 
ashleynicole said:
one more picture
Click to expand...

See how he's got an indent along his back, that runs along his spine? IMO, that is a sign he's a bit over weight. Also, if the belly part is not flat, & has a rounded look, that's another sign that the snake is heavier than it should be.
For a large adult male Corn, the most I would feed it would be an XL mouse every two weeks.
 
ashleynicole said:
I knew about the fat vs protein content was a little different, but I didn't think it was to the point it would cause a calcium defeciency. Do you have any research to back that up? Legitiment articles?

He is not overweight. We went out to a few experts the other day and they said he was one of the most beautiful and healthy looking corns he has ever seen. Here are a few pics from last week.
Click to expand...

Looking at the pics in this post, my impression is that he's a bit overweight.
 
ashleynicole - I guess you found the info you need. Here is a link to a nutritional chart link. Before I forget nice looking corn snake.
 
AliCat37 said:
He may be overweight. There was a thread earlier today with a corn that was eating the same amount and it is extremely obese. An adult corn only needs one large/jumbo mouse a week. Rats, especially younger ones- like you'd feed your corn snake- are high in fat and low in calcium, so eventually it may lead to calcium deficiencies. Would you be able to post a pic of your snake?
Click to expand...

according to this link http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp
A small adult rat has a little more calcium than an adult mouse. The differneced appear negligible.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top