Rabbits or jumbo rats

[scott_nevill90]

I have a 7ft coastal thats just come out of hibernation and just finished shedding. what is better for thjem health wise? RABBITS OR JUMBO RATS???. Ive been told that jumbo rats are the old breeders and are full of fat and not good for the snake in the long term. please help feeding time is coming soon

Thankyou for any suggestions

 

[saximus]

Yeah I've heard any rats over about 250gm are just extra fat. You could always go for two large rats. From memory last time I checked that would still be cheaper than a rabbit

 

[junglepython2]

Rabbits all the way.

 

[wokka]

There is lots of reserch data available for fat content of various sizes and ages of different types of animals. What there is not , is research data on food nutritional requirements for snakes. It does not necessarily follow that because fat is bad for old codgers like me , that is is bad for snakes. Everything in moderation. Research shows that old breeders are no more likely to carry fat than old non breeders in fact my observation with cows, which are also mammals,is that barren non breeders are often fatter than the best breeders in the herd.

 

[scott_nevill90]

thanks wokka that makes sense

 

[congo_python]

Rabbits are great and both ur coastals should love them,i give my big girl whose around the 10-11ft mark a dwarf rabbit a month.

Cheers
congo

 

[raged]

Give the reptile shop a call I'm sure the have both of them..

 

[scott_nevill90]

cheers. our pet shop down here is **** and the sizes arnt the proper sizes i dont think. have gotten them form other shops and they are very different.

 

[wokka]

cheers. our pet shop down here is **** and the sizes arnt the proper sizes i dont think. have gotten them form other shops and they are very different.

Where is "down here"?

 

[scott_nevill90]

im located in nowra. we dont have the best pet shops around thats for sure. very over priced aswell

 

[Cockney_Red]

All my adult Morelia, and Olives are on 3-400 gram carrot crunchers, at 5$ a pop...lean and big boned...plus the odd large rat and Quail

Yeah I've heard any rats over about 250gm are just extra fat. You could always go for two large rats. From memory last time I checked that would still be cheaper than a rabbit

Hey Sax where 1 get them 220gm rats 5$.......3-400gm rabbits 5$........know which I prefer...

 

[saximus]

Haha yeah that's awesome. I was obviously just getting them from the wrong place

 

[chase77]

try warrawong produce in the woollongong area. I've seen them advertise on here. good prices. A trip to the gong every couple of months wouldn't be to hard.

im located in nowra. we dont have the best pet shops around thats for sure. very over priced aswell

 

[pythonmum]

What about a chicken? May as well try something different. They are cheap, too.

 

[scott_nevill90]

that is a good idea. would work out cheap aswell. thanks for the tip

 

[Boidae]

DO NOT USE JUMBO RATS!!!!
Once rats get over 200-250 grams, as mentioned before, they will just put on fat, which is REEEAAALLY bad for your snake.
Rabbits, and the occasional chicken are best. 1x rabbit will probably be cheaper than 2x 200g rats as well.
Where are you located, I'm sure someone could put you in touch with a frozen rabbit supplier.

 

[longqi]

Guinea pigs are much more 'densely packed' than either rats or rabbits
Very full of nutrient and slithers love them
Similar sized guinea pig will weigh almost twice what a rat or rabbit does

Never had a problem with Jumbo rats and snake health
maybe because my slitherers were active and handled a lot??

 

[mattyg]

rabbits for sure and the occational quail aswell

 

[Bluetongue1]

Rats 200g (approx) and above do carry proportionately more fat than smaller sizes. Aspidites species are not able to cope with this amount of fat if fed exclusively on this size rodent. This is most likely a reflection of their adaptation to a very lean natural diet which consists mostly of reptiles and then mammals and occasionally birds. To the best of my knowledge, other groups do not appear to have the same level of sensitivity. Whether a high fat diet causes obesity and its associated health issues will depend upon how frequently the animal is fed, how much and how active it is. I would strongly urge you to learn how to determine good body condition in your snakes if you are going to feed them exclusively or often on jumbo rats.

Blue

 

[wokka]

The research data i have found on the net does not support the popular statement - "that rats over 200 grams carry proportionately more fat than smaller animals". Whilst i accept that everything you read on the net, including forums may not be true I have read reserch data from universities and the like which I assume will have some scientific merit. The biggest influence upon the fat content was the history of the rat. Rats which have recently reared young have far less fat than those which have not. My non scientific abservation in my time working in abbattiors is that this is the case with cows where barron cows ( mature cows which have not bred) go to fat quicker than lactating cows. It is not often you see a fat dairy cow!
I believe that the condition of captive snakes is primarily the result of the quantity of food fed rather than the quality of food fed. Keepers often feed regardless of the snakes job at hand.If the mature snake has recently laid then a BHP may have produced say 1-2kilos of eggs. Using a 3:1 food conversion that animal will need say 3-6 kilos of food to replace the egg mass plus its usual maintainance requirement which I believe is about 50% of the snakes body weight each year or say 2-3 kilos for a BHP The maintainence requirement could supplied by 6-7 ex breeder rats (jumbos) each year whereas a lot of BHP keepers feed jumbos weekly.
As Bluetounge says the most beneficial feeding for snake results from determining the animals condition but in conjunction with the snake history and future demands.