Where do you buy mice?

Thanks

Rich Z: Do you really think it is a good idea feeding your snake(s) wild caught mice and introducing the strong possibility of transferring parasites into them?

l have not thought this issue. Thank you for your concern!

Going to try to revive this late 2022 shipping is expensive all around.. anyone have any new updates on favorite place to buy frozen from?

I usually order from Rodent Pro. Free shipping with $100 purchase, which I always hit.

Thanks hypno, I checked and they do seem to be the best price wise. I only have one corn at the moment 4 Mo old got her yesterday. Curious to know what sizes and and how many I should be ordering. (Had a corn as a kid have been out of the hobby a long time)

That's always tough! Unfortunately, for just one snake, especially a baby, buying in bulk probably won't be worth it. Is she still on pinkies? The minimum quantities that Rodent Pro sells will be too many for a single baby, unless you can find someone to split orders with or get another snake or two! Most sizes require fewer than 15 meals before you're able to move to the next size. I'd have to double check my records to see exactly how many I feed before moving to the next size.

Yes the breeder told me she’s still on pinky’s but didn’t specify if she eats one or 2 every 5 days. I need to weigh her I found this chart online. Do you think this is correct info?

16-23g snake 3-4g pinky x2 every 4-5 days
24-34g snake 5-7g small fuzzy every 5-6 days
31-50g snake 7-9g regular fuzzy every 5-6 days
51-90g snake 9-12g hopper every 6-7 days

Yeah that's approximately what I do. I do single pinkies once every 5 days until the snake is 15ish grams, then switch to a single peach fuzzy every 5 days until the snake is 25 grams, then a regular fuzzy once a week until 50 grams, then a hopper weekly until 100 grams, then a weanling until 170 grams, then adult mice. Once they hit 300 grams, I stretch out the feeding frequency to 10-14 days and monitor body shape.

Weighing her will help pin down a good schedule for her!

Awesome! Helped take my anxieties away for sure. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a snake and wanted to make sure. Appreciate your help!

You're welcome! Feel free to update with a weight once you're able to get one.

I will, just fed her last night after messaging w breeder she hadn’t had a meal in 7 days so she was definitely ready. On Sunday before I feed her again I will get her on the scale and see where we are at.

Rich Z said:

Do you really think it is a good idea feeding your snake(s) wild caught mice and introducing the strong possibility of transferring parasites into them?

Click to expand...

F/T WC Deer Mice do not transfer parasites. And yes, I do really think that it is a great idea to feed WC North American prey items to North American colubrids. I base this on my observations of feeding CBB Mus musculus and WC Peromyscus maniculatus to various North American colubrids since the 1970's.

Deer Mice are to Corns as ASF's are to Ball Pythons. Better feeding response, faster growth, less odorous stools. The calcium level of Deer Mice is off the charts, easily 2x-3x more bone mass vs CBB mice (their skulls alone are 3x-4x the size of an equal sized CBB mouse) as well a significantly greater meat to fat ratio. CBB mice are fatty, soft, and mushy, the last thing that an already sedentary captive Corn needs. WC mice are lean and tough (beef vs venison). For the non-squeamish: peel the fur coat off a WC mouse and a CBB mouse and you'll see what I mean. WC Deer Mice caught from January through September have absolutely no visible fat anywhere on their skinned carcasses.

See the last complete sentence on page 65 of KathyLove's book. There are a few other pages that also make mention of WC prey items but now that I want to find them I can't. :grin01:

Nutrient Composition of Whole Vertebrate Prey (excluding fish) Fed in Zoos