Switching from mice to rats...

[Melissa88]

Im trying to get my ball to eat rats, but he wont how long should i let him go with out food before i give in and give him a mouse. Will some snakes never make the switch?? I have been putting a small rat in his cage every few days but he wont take it. I did the same thing a few months ago, and thinking he was just not eating i put a mouse in with him and he ate right up.

[Alexandra V]

First off, how old is he? If he's small I wouldn't let him skip more than a meal or two. Older and bigger snakes can handle longer fasts.

Yes, some snakes will never accept rats, it is possible that yours is just a mouser, which is not necessarily bad as I know of many good, healthy snakes that have been eating nothing but mice their entire lives.

[Melissa88]

Im really not sure how old he is but he is over two feet and is very healthy. The main reason i want him to switch is because breeding rats is alot less smelly and they get to size much faster then mice. How long should i wait before i give him a mouse??

[Alexandra V]

Im really not sure how old he is but he is over two feet and is very healthy. The main reason i want him to switch is because breeding rats is alot less smelly and they get to size much faster then mice. How long should i wait before i give him a mouse??

When was the last time you fed him? I'd say don't go for much longer than two weeks without food, so maybe try giving him an appropriately sized mouse now, then wait two weeks (so if you're feeding once every week he would miss one meal) and then try offering a rat about the same size as the mice he normally eats and see if he'll take it.

Another thing you could try is (if you feed live) put a mouse (in a cage or something) right near the snake enclosure all day so that he'll get the mouse smell and then instead of offering him the mouse, offer a rat about the same size as he'd eat normally. You could also try putting the rat you intend to feed in a cage with soiled mouse bedding for a little while so that he'll have some mouse scent on him.

[Simple Man]

A snake can go 2 or 3 months without any problems at all but in your case I would suggest 2 or 3 weeks. You should get some mouse bedding (used) from the pet store and keep the rat in the box with it for awhile. This will scent the rat a little bit. If you are feeding F/T then you can just thaw a mouse and rub it all over the F/T rat you are trying to feed. My snakes had never had F/T or rats and I've successfully converted 3 of them to F/T mice and 1 of them to F/T rats within a week of owning them. Just keep at it!

Regards,

B

[Alexandra V]

Oh, also, if you feed frozen thawed then you can thaw the rat out in a bag with a mouse or two to get it to smell like a mouse.

[Melissa88]

Thank you for all the suggestions i will give them a try