| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Paul82 |
Posted - 10/08/2010 : 16:35:31
ive been out to 3 reptile shops today and got diff info from each shop 
it started in the 1st shop when i asked for mice, thay had none left but he said he got rats, he said rats are just as good and work out cheaper in the long run, i said no ill try elce were so shop number 2
only had small mice and pinkys, i asked him about the rats and he said only now and again coz thay not a nutreunts( soz about spelling ) thay need. 3rd shop same no mice till friday, she asked me how many snakes i got and how many mice each snake and how often thay fed,
2 snakes, 3.5ft and 4.5ft, 2 and 3 years, 2 mediem and 2 large evrey 7-9 days,
she said should be 1 large and 1 extra big, once a week, but how big can there mouth strech, would thay still eat if to big or do thay kno if to big.
thank u for any info that makes sence of all this.  |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 10/08/2010 : 17:29:21
If you feed rats to corns, then you feed them small rats and definitely don't go by the girth rule, go for smaller as if you go by the girth rule, this is one way an adult corn snake can get obese. With mice, the general girth rule does work but it isn't a 100%
I find corns respond better to rats in the sense of feeding response, I guess it's because they smell more but it is just easier to feed them mice for me.
Why do you feed two of each prey item? The lady told you right I think. So the 4.5ft corn 1 extra large, He's almost a full adult so once he's a full adult, 1 extra large mouse every 10-14 days is a good feeding guide generally.
http://anfrozenfoods.co.uk/#/mice/4532624648 rough good size of mice. |
| BurnedAtTheStake |
Posted - 10/08/2010 : 17:25:22
Could be I read about rats over on the royal forum - seems royal owners prefer them for their snakes and don't want to get royals hooked on mice ...
I find this info useful because once my young royal is settling and growing, if I try him on rat pups and he refuses, my plan was to try and recycle the rat to my chief gannet corn ... waste not want not.
So I'd better not get the corn too used to rats and keep her chiefly on mice... mind you, that girl would eat ANYTHING! She'd eat me if I had fur and a squeak! |
| hillzi |
Posted - 10/08/2010 : 16:56:10
Makes semi sense to me mate, for corns, rats aren't good as a solid staple diet, yeah a bit of variation and the occasional rat is fine, but rats are supposed to be too fatty and can be quite addictive to snakes, so it's best to stay away from those! 
Rule of thumb is not to feed anything larger than 1.5x the size of your snakes maximum gridth.. I also have a very vivid image of my snakes when I'm buying my mice, so I know what they could, and could not, manage to get down their gob's. 
edit: BATS beat me to it! |
| BurnedAtTheStake |
Posted - 10/08/2010 : 16:55:24
Hi, what I've heard is that prey items should be up to one and a half times the snake's girth. I know this looks enormouse (pun intended) for the head but they get it down! I've also heard that there should be a nice bulge in the belly once they've fed.
However one of my snakes won't eat the right size mouse (she prefers smaller items.) She should be on a medium mouse but she will eat a small mouse and a fuzzy, but I'm going to be trying her on the right prey soon. When I tried her on the right sized prey she took it, and then spat it out ... There's always one!
I've also heard that rats are more nutritious than mice but that snakes find the smell of mouse more appetising. I know someone who used to have a 6ft corn who refused to eat rat. (Didn't stop him from getting to be a big lad!)
Sorry I can't be more precise than this but someone will be along soon with more experience, I'm sure. Good luck. |
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