Smell different?

[MacWin]

I think I have created a monster, yesterday was feeding day and Nanners took his pinky like a champ but Bob on the other hand was being a big stinker. After getting him eating again by using gerbils I tried to give him a rat and it was a rat with black and white colors not all white he wanted nothing to with it .

It's not a big deal because I can get gerbils cheap but I guess I should change his name to Thurston and get him a girlfriend named Lovie then they can sit around and have gerbils and bubbly lol.

When I told my wife last night about it she said he just has expensive tastes. So I guess now he is gonna get "Fancy Feast" gerbils instead of plain old "Alpo" rats.

Can they tell the difference in smell or color or what? If I am a Ball Python how do I know the difference between a rat and a gerbil?

[Smulkin]

Yep they can smell it. You can counter this by scenting the rat with a gerbil to help the transition.

[MrsMacWin]

I have got a great idea for you. Get a rat and take it over to the neighbors and let it run around in the gerbil cage so that it will smell like a gerbil.

[MacWin]

Very funny sweetie :roll: We are gonna go here in a little bit to get a gerbil.

[Smulkin]

Again I urge you all to refrain from Richard Gere comments.

That is all.

[MacWin]

LMAO smulkin!! Well that seals it Bob is a fine dining gerbil eating Ball Python. Got back a little bit ago put the box in there he woke up tounge a flickering. I opened the box let the gerbil out and he was like a kid on christmas morning .

I guess my only question is do gerbils get big enough to sustain a full grown Ball Python? Not that he is full grown yet but he will be within a year I would guess. And my second question since he goes after gerbils so well can you order frozen gerbils online like rats? I think since his feeding response is so good with Richard Gere's little friends that switching to stunned/killed/frozen/thawed will not that be that hard.
Thanks for any replies.

[Jeanne]

Gerbils never get big enough to sustain a full grown ball, so, scent a rat with essence of gerbil and lose the expensive tastes... LOL unless you dont mind feeding multiple prey items. I am not sure if you can get frozen ones like you can mice and rats, but it may be worth looking into if you are gonna keep feeding gerbils.

[JLC]

Or you can start breeding your own. They're very easy to keep. So long as you keep the cages clean, they don't stink at all. And it actually takes a pretty dirty cage to start stinking at all. Being desert rodents, they only urinate about one drop a day.

[MacWin]

I thought of breeding them myself, my only question is if I am going to breed gerbils could my Cali King eat them as well? From what I have read kings have an awesome feeding response so is that a viable option?

I don't want to have to breed rats and gerbils and just the same I don't want to have to breed gerbils for Bob then still have to buy rats for Nanners. And in the future if I were to say get a Boa or a Milk snake could or would they eat them too.

I guess what I am saying is if I am going to go thru the trouble of breeding my own gerbils are they a viable food source for everyone?
Or am I just nuts?

[Wizill]

you gotta get that guy over to rats.