After a failed attempt at a f/t rat a couple of months ago and then a failed attempt at a live rat 2 weeks ago, Nado, one of my ball pythons finally took a f/t rat this past Friday for the first time and I couldn't be happier!Up until this point, he had been on 3-4 live mice a week and had NEVER taken a f/t of ANYTHING.
This is the method that worked for me:
I thawed it, heated it with a hair dryer and then put it in a box with mouse bedding in it from an earlier feed of my other snakes, shook it up in there, heated it again for a second and then put it in front of him. He was confused at first but I could tell he was interested. So using tongs, I laid the rat down and began moving it around his tub, mimicking mouse movements. After a minute or so he struck it in what was the weakest strike I have ever seen him do; he simply grabbed it and only turned his head. I'm guessing because it was dead and didn't put up a fight, he thought he had it good enough. lol.
I'm an thrilled that I finally got him on f/t rats. Now I'm going to try to get my other ball on them too. Just had to share this!![]()