refusal; now what with the rat?

[lk_holla]

I still feed live and my bp has made his first refusal ever tonight.

My question is what should I do with the rat? I've never had a small critter before and I'm hoping i can just keep him around until i can try to feed him again. I've got a little tank i can keep him in and some substrate and stuff but i don't really want to spend too much more money on something i intend to feed soon.

my bp was very interested in the rat the entire time, stalking it around and acting like he was going to strike, but ran (i mean this loosely) away every time the rat came close. Could it have been the rat that prevented him from going in for the kill?


Thanks for any help, I really appreciate.

[Danounet]

There could be many reasons why it did not attack the rat, but as far as keeping the critter alive. It doesnt take much, Just water, food and some kind of substrate. They can eat dog food for the time being, also oatmeal, carrots. There are so many things they could eat around the house (as in temporary food).

[BallsUnlimited]

i feed f\t unless they will not take f\t. But i did end up with two weaned rats that i have kept as pets. They are awesome pets and are very very smart. I can call them and they will come over to me. I refuse to feed them off to my snakes. One is blue headed and a blue spot and one is all black with a white chest.

[Elise.m]

Set him up in the tank. Put some substrate in there and a source of water, maybe something you have in the cupboards like granola for food.

I had two refusals the other week and I had to set the rats up in a temp tub. It was a 12 oz I think. I set it up like I mentioned above, but went to wal mart the next day to get some things for them. I spent $5 on them. I would recomend getting a temp set up for rats in case you get refused in the future. Now that I have all the things I need to hold a rat for a week, I feel alot better.

The water bottle was 3. The food was 2. And I bought them chewing sticks for .75 cents.

crap. I just noticed this was 5 hours old. I hope this helps a little and you don't get flamed like I did when I made this type of thread.

[lk_holla]

So we tried feeding the rat again, and to my boyfriends disbelief it seems like my bp and the rat are bffs. they just sat there face to face doing absolutely nothing. when we took the rat out finally, the rat started talking to us! i've never heard a rat make so much conversation and actually seem likeable. I might just have to keep this one..

but he's sneezing a lot so i dunno what that means. i hope he's not sick. he seems otherwise okay, minus the fact he's completely unattractive to a hungry python.

[rabernet]

So we tried feeding the rat again, and to my boyfriends disbelief it seems like my bp and the rat are bffs. they just sat there face to face doing absolutely nothing. when we took the rat out finally, the rat started talking to us! i've never heard a rat make so much conversation and actually seem likeable. I might just have to keep this one..

but he's sneezing a lot so i dunno what that means. i hope he's not sick. he seems otherwise okay, minus the fact he's completely unattractive to a hungry python.

You offered again too soon. Don't offer the rat again for another week. Offering food daily after refusal will just lead to more refusals.

I WAS about to warn you about getting to attached to the rat over the next week. If you decide to keep him/her as a pet - be sure to get it a same sexed buddy - rats do better in pairs.

[BallsUnlimited]

my two i kept

[Tiny_loves_Roxanne]

kill it and freeze it, best way to save money...only thing its gonna cost is a plastic zip bag

[SNIKTTIME]

You offered again too soon. Don't offer the rat again for another week. Offering food daily after refusal will just lead to more refusals.

I WAS about to warn you about getting to attached to the rat over the next week. If you decide to keep him/her as a pet - be sure to get it a same sexed buddy - rats do better in pairs.

I think it is a mortal sin for a snake owner to get attached to rats

[bones93]

I used a spare 10 gallon tank. Put some bedding in there with some lab block and a hamster water bottle. I got tired of trying to predict how many I needed and worrying if one wasnt gonna eat what I was gonna do with the rat. They eat like hogs too lol so make sure you have a supply of food.
I currently have an all gray rat named Stewart who was a feeder and is kind of becoming a little pet LOL