Ignoring rat, should I leave it in cage over night (F/T)?

[VooDooDoc]

My snake who previously has never refused a meal has decided to go on a hunger strike. Wants nothing to do with his F/T rat. When I was heating it up with a hair dryer he came out of his hide and was nosing around the door to his cage, but when I put the rat in he just ignores it like its not even there.

Wondering if I leave it sit in his cage he might decide to eat it, or should I just give up and toss it out now?

This is the second week in a row he's decided to not eat, should I keep trying every week or let him go a few weeks?

[babyknees]

I've left f/t rats in overnight with positive results. I say go for it!

[Mike41793]

Nope i leave it in over nite and if its not gone by morning i throw it outside for other critters to snack on. I never throw it out, hate to waste them.

[omgitsnikita]

From personal experience, i left a thawed mouse in my ball pythons cage over the weekend because he didnt eat it. I had somewhere to be so I couldnt observe. But by the time i came back it was stinking up the wholeee room. Dont leave it in more than a day though cause it will start rotting if you absolutely dont want to waste it. but i dont think he will eat it. Try wiggling it next to his nose? Thats how I get my ball to eat when hes uninterested.

[VooDooDoc]

I'll leave it will morning and toss it out in the woods if its still there. I've tried wiggling it around, he litterally just pushes right past it and goes on his merry way.

[omgitsnikita]

Sometimes they just like to waste your money I guess, haha. Ever spice it up with a live one every once in a while? They like a little fight sometimes. And if he didnt eat it, it would still be alive the next day. No wasting.

[Alexandra V]

Personally with all my f/t eaters I just toss the rats in and check the next morning. More often than not they've eaten them, but I once made the mistake of becoming complacent and assumed that they were all eaten. I didn't get around to going down to check the morning after feeding, and the next day holy lord did it smell BAD!

TL;DR: yes, leave it overnight, but make sure you check the next morning!

omgitsnikita: It's NEVER but NEVER a good idea to leave a live rodent unattended with a snake. They can do untold damage and even kill the snake if the snake is not interested in eating. That may not have been what you meant in your post, but I just wanted to clarify in case.

[Mike41793]

Personally with all my f/t eaters I just toss the rats in and check the next morning. More often than not they've eaten them, but I once made the mistake of becoming complacent and assumed that they were all eaten. I didn't get around to going down to check the morning after feeding, and the next day holy lord did it smell BAD!

TL;DR: yes, leave it overnight, but make sure you check the next morning!

omgitsnikita: It's NEVER but NEVER a good idea to leave a live rodent unattended with a snake. They can do untold damage and even kill the snake if the snake is not interested in eating. That may not have been what you meant in your post, but I just wanted to clarify in case.

She said thawed

[VooDooDoc]

Well the butt head didn't eat it. I put it at the entrance to his hide and he actually crawled right over top of it to get inside and ignored it all night. I used to feed him live but when it got time to move to rats I switched to F/T and he ate every time for about 6 months or so. The last two times he ate he was progressively less interested and the last time it was more like, "oh fine I'll eat it if you'll leave me alone".

I don't know what I'd do with a live rat if he didn't eat it. Maybe put it in my neighbors house (payback for their annoying barking dog ).

[Mike41793]

How big is he? If hes a male he may be in breeding mode still...