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Feeding Rats to Corns?

M

michaele

New member
I was wondering how Corns do on Rats (Rat Pinkies, Fuzzies, Hoppers, etc.) instead of mice? (as long as the size is appropriate)

Thanks!
 
I only have a few switched over so far, but I have noticed a definite growth increase in the snakes I have switched from mice to rats. All but one took to them readily, one is not so sure he likes ratmeat though :)
 
As long as the rat is size correctly for the corn --- no problem. I switch from rats to mice all the time.
 
I feed my Amel both. I breed both rats and mice, but it seems that I almost always have more rats than mice. The mice only have 8 or 9 babies, while the rats have from 13 to 17 babies. Only problem is that rats are larger than mice and if you had a hatchling it probably couldn't handle a rat pink until it was at least old enough to handle mouse fuzzies. Here is the ratio, its not always exact, but you can get the idea.

Pinky rat = fuzzy mouse
fuzzy rat = hopper mouse
hopper rat = small adult mouse
weanling rat = full grown mouse
 
whats the nutritional content with rats vs mice? do rats have more fat? subquestion; do we want our corn snakes to eat a high fat diet? i mean some of this is common sense but you never know. i know what humans needs to eat, but being as captive snakes eat the same exact thing their whole lives i was wondering what constitutes as a poor meal and what constitutes as a good meal. snakes don't necessarily have junk food like humans do...
 
scottrussell said:
whats the nutritional content with rats vs mice? do rats have more fat? subquestion; do we want our corn snakes to eat a high fat diet? i mean some of this is common sense but you never know. i know what humans needs to eat, but being as captive snakes eat the same exact thing their whole lives i was wondering what constitutes as a poor meal and what constitutes as a good meal. snakes don't necessarily have junk food like humans do...
Click to expand...
i'd like to know this as well...i also heard people feed their females rats before they lay the eggs or around that time because they'll need the extra fat that the rats provide...but i might be completely wrong here though :sidestep:
 
I'm trying to find the link to a very thorough nutritional analysis chart. It was posted elsewhere a long time ago. When I find it I will post it. It compares mice/rats/rabbits/etc.

Anyways, rats have more nutritional value than mice do. ( I have nothing to back that up except experience and that chart when I find it.. sorry ). But through experience, if you take two corns, feed them the same number of times a wk, but one is mice and one is rat.... The one fed the rats will grow faster, bigger.

As well, I've compared same age snakes, the one was in the care of a breeder who fed mice, the other in my care on rats.... The one in my care was larger.

Personally, I switch my snakes onto rats asap. They get fed 85% rat, the rest mice. It's a pricing and availability issue for me. I can get mice easily, not rats though. Rats are also more expensive.

As my collection has grown, I have come to feed rats for the first 1-1.5yrs of the snake's life, then switch to mice except for females after laying eggs. They get rats for a few feeds.

I'm not a vet/nutritional expert..... but I do know that it has been proven that rats have more nutritional content than mice. Will post the link as soon as I find it :)
 
We prefer to feed rats because of better growth rates, but we find that about a third of our corns seem very relutant to take rats - some actually seem fearful of rats (frozen thawed) even when introduced to them as feed at a very young age. I have had some corns that would never convert to rats, but feeding rats definitely makes a difference in growth and conditioning females for breeding,

mary v.
 
Unless I'm reading it wrongly, when comparing similiar sized mouse vs rat, the rat has a higher protein % ... which to me could explain the growth of snakes on rats vs mice. ( I'm not a dietician, nor a prey expert by any means... my comments are solely based on what I've read, and what I've experienced with my own snakes ).

I intend on doing my own "studies" in this matter which my next hatchlings ( which won't be for 2 seasons ), with plenty of documentation. I would urge others to try similiar "experiments" and document their results for everyone to see :)
 
In just the difference between a mouse fuzzy & a rat pink the protein is higher & the fat is lower. Seems like a good jumping off point to me :D

As soon as I'm done with my fuzzy's I'm switching. I have been thinking about it for a while, but I definitely see the difference in nutrition.
 
The only corns in our collection that are on mice are the hatchlings. Once a pinky mouse is too small of a meal, they go to rats for the remainder of their days.
 
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