Feeder Rats

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
C

cvermeulen

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 4, 2007
1,876
3
36
Los Osos, CA
I'm guessing this might generate some mixed feelings, but here goes.

I have a carpet python, and she eats frozen/thawed rats. Every time I move her up a food size, I'm left with a number of the smaller food size rats in my freezer. I either feed her two of the last size till their gone, or throw them out.

Anyone see an issue feeding them to my TSN? We're talking 90 gram rats and a 30"+ TSN. I'm not sure if he'll even eat them or not, but if he did, they would be a pretty solid size meal for him. In fact one 150g rat a week might me cheaper than feeding shrimp.

I mean it can't be worse than people feeding dog food and hot dogs, right?
 
Well I would think it would depend on how hot the tsn can have its internal body temp to be able to digest an animal that was warm blooded when alive and is raw. So how hot of water can the TSN withstand and how high is the avg body temp of baby rats is what I would be looking at.

Can always cut the baby rats up into chunks that would help mechanical digestion. I would also worry about the bones and fur, but if they are pinkies then try some chunks of pinkie mice.
 
I'd not do it because I have not heard a single serious expert or ichthyologist suggest that for a snack, needless to say a staple food. I'd stick with aquatic-derived foods and pellets.

The best we can do is strive to mimic their conditions in the wild. I guess big TSNs in the wild could get a mammal like a rat every now and then... or stumble upon a corpse/carcass... plus TSNs are very gluttonous. Yet, it is but a guess if they do indeed partake of it and how often and with what results.

I've seen vids of people feeding mice and rats to their various fish, including cats. You could try at your own risk and then post the results.

It is known that some large cats, like wels, have mammals and poultry on their diet, so that's no guesswork.
 
i got a 26" rtcxtsn hybrid and had trouble getting him off frozen rats. he was in a display at a big reptile breeding facility and ofcourse they had plenty of rats so thats what they fed him. and nothing else. after about a month he was on shrimp and pellet. so for your question, i dont see that it would effect your fish in a bad way.
 
Good to know. So, it does not sicken them or kill them. For the fairness sake, long-term effects remain unknown (these cats are known to live for 20-40 years).
 
cvermeulen said:
I mean it can't be worse than people feeding dog food and hot dogs, right?
Click to expand...
Lol,you got that right.I have actually been thinking about dropping in a pinky or two for my armatus...as a treat....Interesting comments from the poster who touched on the different temperatures that are involved in feeding.



Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
aquaculture said:
Well I would think it would depend on how hot the tsn can have its internal body temp to be able to digest an animal that was warm blooded when alive and is raw. So how hot of water can the TSN withstand and how high is the avg body temp of baby rats is what I would be looking at.

Can always cut the baby rats up into chunks that would help mechanical digestion. I would also worry about the bones and fur, but if they are pinkies then try some chunks of pinkie mice.
Click to expand...

krichardson said:
Interesting comments from the poster who touched on the different temperatures that are involved in feeding.
Click to expand...

This temperature discussion really does not make any sense to me. Why would water temperature vs mouse body temperature make any kind of difference? These fish (and many other fish) are known to thrive on many warm blooded food items, and I've never heard anyone mention water temp as a factor. I would be more concerned with the high calcium content and different nutrient makeup than anything. Bones wouldn't worry me so much as fish bone is similar to mammal bone and they eat fish all the time. The fur I could see maybe being an issue but again, my TSN will eat shell-on prawns and pass the shells right through so I can't see it being much different.
 
I found the temperature talk interesting because I had never heard it brought up before.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom