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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 7, 2009 0:47:32 GMT -5
I've just been getting my ferts used to whole prey(mice). I feed this weekly. Organ night, they each get a frozen thawed mouse. I wish I could do more than weekly, but it's not possible at the moment.
Right now, they are able to put away a large hopper, and next month, we move to adult mice. My question is, should I start switching up the ages now, before they start eating adult sized, after they've become used to adults, or even bother, since it's only weekly?
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Post by harrisi on Jan 7, 2009 15:42:57 GMT -5
To be honest, they will eat what they want and usually what they are given. My 1lb 4oz female will eat an adult rat the same size as her and she is fine, I never really bothered with the size thing as either way you could get leftovers, they wont eat too much. So I would say try with the adults whenever you want, but maybe give them the mouse in the morning and if there is leftovers put it in a tupperware container in the fridge and give them the leftovers at night. But they should be fine with an adult.
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Post by Heather on Jan 7, 2009 19:06:36 GMT -5
Are you concerned with the calcium and mineral content of the different aged prey? or just concerned about having them eat the whole thing? If you're concerned about the age because of the content of the prey, if your feeding other meats and bones then I would be less concerned. My guys eat mostly young rats as they're the young males culled from my friends breed stock. My guys also get bone from various other sources so I don't really worry about the fact that they rarely eat bone from older rats. I usually try to feed my mice older but that is because they prefer to hunt older and I want them to be more than a snack which is what the hoppers and such are. I just don't have enough little mice to provide a satisfying meal if I don't wait for them to grow up. ciao
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Post by sherrylynne on Jan 7, 2009 20:01:01 GMT -5
For me, the main thing is that they are gone in the morning, since hubby has a major problem with feeding whole prey. As I mentioned, they each get a mouse at my bedtime when they have had liver for Sat. evening supper. I have to wait until hubby goes to bed before I can give them the mice. I guess since I've read so much about giving different ages, I was curious if a once weekly feeding needed to be switched up, or if I could just give them what they'll eat over the course of the night. They get a diet otherwise based on the frankenprey approach.
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Post by Heather on Jan 7, 2009 23:04:54 GMT -5
I would give whatever you have at hand. If it varies in ages bonus but because you only feed once a week I wouldn't worry as much as if you were feeding them as a primary component of their diet. I noticed that the live feeders that the pet store uses are all about the same age, unless they raise their own. I don't think the frozen ones seem to be much different. At least my older mice are much larger than the ones that are frozen as adult feeders. It's how I would look at it anyway Ciao
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