I have one snake that ate rats before, but decided one day to go to mice. At first she was striking and coiling the rats, but not eating them. Now she doesn't strike at the rat, just investigates but I dangle the tongs till my arm goes numb she doesn't strike.
I wanted to get her eating again and tried mice and she ate. I then got her to eat rats again by scenting the rat with mice. I still have to do this. But the thing is, that's wasting the mice because no one else has this issue and they all eat rats other than her no problem.
So far I've been giving the mouse to my tegu, but my tegu being so big it's not even 100th of a mouthful, it just makes me feel better not to waste it.
I am thinking, can I just keep a frozen mouse in the freezer and use that to scent the thawed rat with, will that work?
And no I don't want to try bedding. I tried it once before it didn't work, and I do not keep any live rodents and it was a real pain asking my friend for bedding back then. If there are no other ways I'll probably just keep doing what I'm doing. It's a pity though to essentially waste the mouse.