# mice vs rats



## Guest (Nov 10, 2010)

I went to go pick up some more mice today and I noticed that the reptile place also has various sizes of rats, pinkie, fuzzy, small, big etc. 
My tegu is eating 2-3 f/t hopper mice (once a week). I'm considering feeding rats instead, is there a big difference nutrition wise between the 2 animals?


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## Guest (Nov 10, 2010)

I've been kicking around the same question with respect to my new jungle carpet. The snake people I've consulted insist that there is no nutritional difference, but that rats and mice do smell (and taste?) differently. And it is certainly more convenient and less expensive to feed an animal a single rat as opposed to 4-6 adult mice. That's why you see so many _Morelia_ breeders switching hatchies to rats of an appropriate size as soon as possible. 

On the flip side, I've heard that several smaller prey items are easier to digest (and thus more quickly converted into energy), so feeding mice even to a large reptile may have its benefits.

I for one plan to try rats with my tegu as he matures, partly because I will have some on hand and partly because I'm confident that an adult male extreme should be able to handle a large rodent with ease (as many a YouTube clip suggests).

I'm curious to hear from members with adult 'gus.


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## Toby_H (Nov 10, 2010)

With most snakes it is best to feed a single prey item per meal. Thus 'snake people' generally quickly turn to rats. 

The meat/organs of rats and meat/organs of mice are of equal nutritional value. I've read that the larger bones of an adult rat will pack more calcium by volume than bones of mice. But since calcium suplements are the norm for tegus I doub t this is a critical difference.

Do keep in mind the amount of fur your Tegu ingests. In bulk, fur can cause impaction, though it is not common. My Tegu can easily eat 12~15 medium mice per day several days in a row, but eating that much fur may cause an issue.


In short, it doesn't matter which you use, mice or rats, choose whicever one is more practical....


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## Guest (Nov 10, 2010)

Ohh I see. Okay thank you! :-D


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