Food - Why Rats?

[Joe_G]

Guys,
An interesting debate has started amonst a small group of my friends who keep Aust. pythons, that i wish to share amongst this forum to shed some light on the subject matter.
The subject being, Why are rats the primary food source for Australian pythons, by most reptile keepers, or at least thats how it appears to be. reptile supply shops don't seem to carry much more than rats or mice.
Questions which have arisen were:-
1.Why wouldn't small rabbits be suitable provided that the python was capable of swallowing one like a large carpet or olive.
2.Hatchlings, both chicken and duck.
3. Guinea pigs, they appear to be much like rats.
4. Why couldn't one feed their snakes chicken necks, - they manage to eat chicks.
5. When raising hatchlings, it seems that a peice of chicken neck would offer more nutritional value than a pinkie, considering a pinkie will be 40% gut loaded with excrement, and a chicken neck would have bone and flesh.

There are a few more, however some answers to these would be a great start.
Thanks

 

[BROWNS]

All sound like good food sources to me .....depends if your animals will feed on them or not.I've heard bhp's love a nice drumstick every now and then,can't see why not!

 

[africancichlidau]

1.Why wouldn't small rabbits be suitable provided that the python was capable of swallowing one like a large carpet or olive.
2.Hatchlings, both chicken and duck.
3. Guinea pigs, they appear to be much like rats.
4. Why couldn't one feed their snakes chicken necks, - they manage to eat chicks.
5. When raising hatchlings, it seems that a peice of chicken neck would offer more nutritional value than a pinkie, considering a pinkie will be 40% gut loaded with excrement, and a chicken neck would have bone and flesh.

1/. They are
2/. Chicks ARE used by many keepers.
3/. Some people use guinea pigs though I have heard on occasion that the fur is to course and the pig should be shaved first ? Don't think this is the case myself but hey, who knows bar the snake?
4/. One can. IMO
5/. OMG, don't you de-crap ya pinkies???

 

[Guest]

Blocker wouldnt take a guinea pig, plus i think they are more fat content than rats of same size. Rabbits would be great if you could get a constant supply, i know id use them for sure if i could.
Chicken neck would be a bit bony wouldnt it??

 

[instar]

Matt/stockeh has em Sherm ! (rabbits)

 

[BROWNS]

Yeah i'm going to get some for sure ,even if my bhps only take em it's all for the better for fat content.....you could grow a bhp very big very quick on just rabbits i reckon!!!

 

[Bouncer]

Up here in QLD its a naughty to sell frozen bunnies. So if we want em we have to freight em from down south. I think Rats are just more easily accessible.
If someone else tries chook necks first I'll give it a go, lol. They seem too bony to me.

 

[stockeh]

Thanks Instar,

We have a constant supply of rabbits available from pinkie size right up to 2-3kg size, there is something for everyone.

All of these guys are captive bread in the best of conditions and are free from parasites, disease and poisons.

The prices are cheap when comparing to the price of rats and the quality of the rabbits is fantastic.... if i were a snake i would rather eat a rabbit then a rat

Take care
Matt
animalattraction.com.au

P.S just drop by our site for prices at www.animalattraction.com.au

 

[stockeh]

BTW Bouncer.... we have sent 6 full boxer of rabbits up to QLD in the past 4 weeks so freighting to you guys is no problem

Matt

 

[Magpie]

1.Why wouldn't small rabbits be suitable provided that the python was capable of swallowing one like a large carpet or olive.
2.Hatchlings, both chicken and duck.
3. Guinea pigs, they appear to be much like rats.
4. Why couldn't one feed their snakes chicken necks, - they manage to eat chicks.
5. When raising hatchlings, it seems that a peice of chicken neck would offer more nutritional value than a pinkie, considering a pinkie will be 40% gut loaded with excrement, and a chicken neck would have bone and flesh.

1) You most certainly can and please do... variety is the spice of life.
2) Day old chicks are much bigger than day old pinkies, but domake great food for monitors or a good change for larger snakes.
3) Guinea pigs are high in fat, only reproduce every 10 weeks, only have 2-4 babies on average and need to be supplied with fresh fruit / veg / grass as they cannot produce their own vitamin C as rats and mice can.
4) You can and I have done so. Drumsticks are bigger than they look, my adult BHP can eat them but my 2YO bredli cannot. However, they can eat chicken necks. They are only good as an occasional feed though, they do not contain everything a snake needs like whole food does.
5) No... a pinkie has a liver, hemoglobin etc that snakes need for growth. I only feed partial food to larger snakes as young growing snakes need all the nutrients contained in whole food.

But basically the reason is..... rats and mice can be kept in small tubs in a garage or your house or outside, fed nothing but pellets and will have babies every 3 weeks that grow rapidly. They are also "only" rodents so most people who feel guilty feeding rabbits or cats to their snakes don't feel guilt feeding rats or mice to them.

 

[herptrader]

Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

Don't underestimate the value of the gut contents. IMO the gut content could be very important to the health of the animal. Being fed "whole" animals is probably one of the reasons why pythons can do very well on a single food source and need no suppliments for the whole of their lives.

If you applied the same logic to feeding humans and decided that only red meat should be fed because it has the highest percentage of protien you would end up with a sick human. (Probably one prone to liver failure!)

Part of the balance in diet comes from the mix of sugars, protien, fats,vitamins, minerals, roughage, microbes etc. etc. We are very lucky as keepers that whole rodents alone as a food source, even after freezing, provide the right balance to keep most Australian snakes in perfect health.

5. When raising hatchlings, it seems that a peice of chicken neck would offer more nutritional value than a pinkie, considering a pinkie will be 40% gut loaded with excrement, and a chicken neck would have bone and flesh.

5/. OMG, don't you de-crap ya pinkies???

(I know your response was in jest Afro ;-) )

 

[zard]

RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

Never thought about chicken necks for the snakes, ill give it a go.. i breed all my own mice and chickens and i was given a heap of breeding size rabbits a few weeks ago so when we are sure they are clean and free of disease we will be breeding them to feed our snakes. (off to buy some from matt to tide me over )

 

[Slateman]

RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

Great answers people. I am putting the Magpie answer to hints and tips forum for future reference.

 

[Joe_G]

RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

Thankyou to those that replied, quite some interesting answers - espicially on the organ contents of a pinkies, makes a bit of sense. To those that breed rats, is the 'smell' an issue or is there a way around it. Basically as most our snakes are maturing, requiring larger food items, the cost of buying rats is starting to rise, and simply looking for a little economy.

 

[hugsta]

RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

I find if you keep their boxes clean they don't smell bad at all. I change them once a week on woodshavings and don't have a porblem. Mice smell much worse though.

 

[snakegirl]

RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

Hi Joe G,
You can breed your own, they dont get smelly like mice and they do breed quickly and I feel that is the main reason rats are fed, in QLD you need a license to have a rabbit and only preschools, zoos etc can get one, so that is a no for me, you will be surprised how cheap it is to buy from some of the people on this site, we do breed our own, for our smaller snakes, but we also buy frozen from rodent rancher - large and jumbo rats for our big snakes, definitely worth the price. You can pm her from this site...

 

[Slateman]

RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

My 100 rats smell les than my 3 rabbits.

 

[Dicco]

RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

in QLD you need a license to have a rabbit and only preschools, zoos etc can get one,

You can no longer keep a rabbit in QLD at all, no more permits are to be given out, but a wildlife park may be an exception.

 

[herptrader]

Re: RE: Re: RE: Food - Why Rats?

I have to second this.

The smell becomes significant once a certain amount of waste builds up. With a large enough tub you can easily go a week with out the need for cleaning. Once it gets over a certain amount it is "all of a sudden" quite noticable.

The smell of mice is a lot more pervasive and or offencive than rats.

I find rats are also a lot better mannered than mice.

I find if you keep their boxes clean they don't smell bad at all. I change them once a week on woodshavings and don't have a porblem. Mice smell much worse though.