Will not eat rats, please give me your advice

[ed4281]

I have a 2010 female pastel that will not eat rat pups, she only wants mice. I have tried prescenting the room and " shake and baking" a rat pup in dirty mouse bedding, still no luck. She is small so I don't want to wait her out. Any suggestions will be helpful.

[Courtney281]

Yeah I have one like this too. How do I get him switched over?

[shakyhand]

I have 9 babies hatched in the middle of July 2010. Four ate rat immediately. Three need to assist feed a few times before taking rat. The last two, had to be force feed twice before taking only mice.

Needless to say, the last 2 are smaller than those which feeding on rat... Amazingly, 2 weeks ago, I mistakenly put rat hopper in one of them and it is gone while the other is in shed.

Right after she shed, I put in rat hopper and she ate it... but after several minutes... must be very hungry... on the second rat feeding. They refused rat. I wait couple of days before introducing smaller rat hopper.... now already 4 feeding on rat... and I'm very2 happy...

[Stewart_Reptiles]

You will need to be patient if she is too small to use "tough love" than keep offering mouse.

Most animals will switch sooner or later however you also need to be prepared to have a mouser on your hand.

I have a male that will not touch a rat no matter what trick you use or how long he has not ate.

I also have a female who finally switch after 4 years of trying, even after a 9 months fast she would still not switch than out of the blue this year she finally made the switch.

Those are the only 2 BP I had problem with out of over 40 of them.

[ed4281]

She was born on july 24th and weighs 145g that's too small for tough love right ?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

She was born on july 24th and weighs 145g that's too small for tough love right ?

It really depends how long the tough love at to last, a few missed meal would be ok however given the size if the animal is really stubborn it might require months and obviously with an animal so small you can't do that.

[Alexandra V]

I know you already tried scenting a mouse, but what I find works well is if you're using frozen/thawed, put the rat in a bag with a few (maybe 2 or 3) mice in the fridge overnight. What that does is it will make them bleed from the nose often, because they thaw out slower.

The day after, you take them out of the fridge and warm them in some water (while they're still in the bag) to make sure they're completely thawed, and now you have two options.

Option 1: feed the snake a mouse that smells a bit like rat for a couple feedings so they start to recognize it as a food smell, or

Option 2: try to trick the snake again, by giving it a rat that has mouse blood on it and that smells like mice. If you go this way, I highly suggest rubbing the mouse over the rat to get as much of the blood on it as possible (gruesome, I know) and then using a hair dryer, pre-scent with the mouse and give the rat. Sometimes they don't fall for it at first, but then after a bit they'll go for it.

[Lolo76]

I have to ask... why is it so important to get your snake eating rats? I realize it's easier when they're full-grown, since you only have to give one prey item - but honestly I don't think it matters much. One of my BPs will ONLY eat mice, and because of her I decided to stick with mice for everyone. Of course then I got a rat-only eater, so that kinda blew my plan. I still prefer feeding mice for a few reasons, so everyone except the rat-only girl (and occasionally Nerissa) gets strictly mice. I offer 2-3 per adult BP, which is about the same price as one rat at my supplier... everyone's growing fine, in fact I've got some fatties now! So if your snake really doesn't like the rats, I personally don't think it's worth forcing her. JMO

[ed4281]

I have to ask... why is it so important to get your snake eating rats? I realize it's easier when they're full-grown, since you only have to give one prey item - but honestly I don't think it matters much. One of my BPs will ONLY eat mice, and because of her I decided to stick with mice for everyone. Of course then I got a rat-only eater, so that kinda blew my plan. I still prefer feeding mice for a few reasons, so everyone except the rat-only girl (and occasionally Nerissa) gets strictly mice. I offer 2-3 per adult BP, which is about the same price as one rat at my supplier... everyone's growing fine, in fact I've got some fatties now! So if your snake really doesn't like the rats, I personally don't think it's worth forcing her. JMO

I see your point, however I have the opposite situation. I can get rats for much cheaper than mice, I get my rats from a local breeder who does not sell mice. In order to get mice I have to go to the pet store and that cost $5.00 per mouse. When I only pay $1.00 per small rat. All my other snakes eat rats a mix of f/t and live.

[don15681]

if you try all the tricks and still no luck, the best time to switch a stubborn one is, get her to breeding size, after she has eggs, bath her clean her tub to get rid of the egg smell. wait a few days and then offer the rat. females I have that are ASF feeders will switch after having eggs and losing all that body weight. this is if nothing else works. and run an ad for feeder mice on craigslist, someone in your area has to breed mice and should be able to get them for less than a dollar when you buy more than one and you're a repeat buyer. good luck don