rats or mice

[chrispaine]

just wondering whats best, and what the main difference is with rats and mice?... thanks.

[savannah_babe]

rats have more protien, yada yada..im sure someone will come along with the exact on that.. but they are better to feed. but i do have to ask, what are you feeding?

[SteveP]

What da' babe said...rats are superior for feeding boids in particular. Even my baby boas get started right onto rat pinkies. Colubrids on the other hand I generally keep on mice. I think their metabolism is better adapted to the fat content of mice, not to mention the size ratio of food item to snake. I don't have any scientific poop to back this up, just years of feeding a bazzilion snakes.

[JuliusSqueezer]

If for no other reason...mice don't get as large so in case there is a taste preference and they get used to and decide to prefer mice...it's best to knock that out and get them on rats asap so you don't have to wait them out later when they get too big for mice. I have cleaned way more puked up mice out of cages in my life than I have rats. I'm not sure why this is....but I have. A freshly weaned rat is the size of or slightly larger than an adult very old mouse. Young means growing bones....growing bones means more calcium and protein. Small rats are a much healthier diet than large mice.