Mice or rats?

[coferj]

I have a juvenile bci and brb, both about 2 ft. I'm feeding them f/t mice at the moment, but was wondering if I should change to rats now to avoid hassle in the future? I've read alot of ppl have had trouble changing from mice to rats without incentive in other ways. I've never had a snake that will get as large as the bci, so I'm trying to get as much info as possible. I don't want to get them full grown and not be able to get them to eat rats and the mice not be enough. Thanks in advance.
[addsig]

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[snaklover]

the general rule of thumb is to not feed a meal that is larger than the girth of the snake(middle), when my snakes were smaller they feed on mice(large) and when they graduated to ratsi had no problem with them making the transition. my bp(5 foot) likes medium rats, i guess less intimadating even though they are dead
[img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]
but seriously..........she does.
my litle 2 foot bp likes two large mice, but unknowingly to him he is going to get a small and i mean small rat as soon as my current supply of mice in the freezer runs out. so good luck and have fun. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
[addsig]

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

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[eddie]

Switch to rats.
Mice aren't really much of a meal for any boa.
Even small juvies , ya can find a rat that fits right.
Like snak-lover said, use the girth rule.
[addsig]

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[LdyDrgn]

nm
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"If love was a choice, who would ever choose such exquisite pain?"
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[phaedrus]

Rats are more nutritious.

Look here for a comparison table of nutrients for mice and rats.

I'd switch especially when young and they need the nutrients.
[addsig]

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[coferj]

>>From what I understand, the girth rule does NOT apply to arboreal species.... the brb can take something bigger. Joltman or JuliusSqueezer (off the top of my head) would be better to answer this question. For the bci, use the girth rule [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Well, the size isn't really an issue, b/c I usually go by the girth rule. True, though, the brb can take much larger meals than the bci, but she's coming up fast. I guess I'll place an order for rats rather than mice, but the size is the issue. From the best I can tell, rodent pro, and the such, sell no less than 50 at a time. For you that have many snakes in your collection, that may be one week's feeding...but for me that's about 25 weeks (more or less) worth. They are now taking small mice, about the size of weanlings. What size rat would that correlate to? Thanks for your help, all!

[addsig]

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[Bry]

Coferi, there have been cases of snakes that choose not to switch from mice to rats. But those tend to be within certain species. Carpet pythons are notorious for this, among several other species. I've never really heard of this happening with BCIs and BRBs, but I'm sure there are certain cases.

As for the girth rule not applying to arboreals, does this mean arboreals can eat prey considerably larger than their girth, as opposed to a BCI? Also, I've never heard of BRBs being arboreal. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] I thought they were terrestrial. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

Bry
[addsig]

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[Karen]

Actually with your arboreals such as Emeralds and Chondros you want to feed smaller than their girth to avoid regurge and prolapse. Even though my BRBs climb some when they are smaller I dont lump them in the "arboreal" category. If that was the case then all my BCI and BCC's would be labeled arboreal also. hahaha Hey, I may be wrong and Im sure I'll be corrected if so. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] As for the mice vs rats. I fed mice for a long time and when I started to feed rats of similar size I noticed a huge growth difference. My collection feeds on nothing but rats now and thankfully I had no trouble switching anyone over. Here's a link to a website that has pictures of all different sizes of mice and rats to help ya choose. Also keep in mind sometimes whats large at one company is jumbo at another so ya might wanna ask the company you purchase from how large they run. ok ...I'll shut my big mouth now. blah,blah.blah.

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Fuzzy Foods

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor Red Tail Boa Constrictor (Boa constictor constrictor). Refers to "true" red tail boas such as the Guyana and Suriname locales.

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.

[coferj]

Thanks everyone. Once again you have all gone above and beyond the call as far as providing great info. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, but on this one I'll just have to figure something out.
[addsig]

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