switching adults from mice to rats.

[TKR]

Im sure there is a thread about this already but i was hoping you guys could give me some tips or links to solutions i can use. I bought an adult female pied around 1300 grams but she only eats live mice... its very hard for me to get mice out here unless i was to pay about 2 bucks for a very small mouse, they dont even sell adult mice... and on top of that she eats like 6 at once. So ill try anything to get her on rats.

[rocknhorse76]

I've always fed f/t rodents, but the way I've switched from mice to rats is by scent transferring. I put frozen rats and mice in the same bag for a day or two.
I'd also recommend going to f/t when you switch to rats, as live rats can definitely be more aggressive than mice and can seriously injure your snake.

[TKR]

Ive tried froz4n mice... she wont take them

[rocknhorse76]

Try warming them up in hot water or using a hair dryer on them. Sometimes its the temperature that throws them off.

[bcr229]

We had a male with the same issue and joked about him eating "popcorn chicken" every week, except is was four mice and not six. This is how we got him switched and he's a happy rat eater now, though he still wants live over f/t so we will work on that next. It took about a month for the transition.
Start with 4-5 mice and a rat weanling the same size as the mice. Note that larger rats will kill mice, but a weanling likely won't. Keep the mice and rat weanling all together in a large critter keeper for an hour so the rat smells nice and "mousy" and the mice pick up some rat scent. Offer one mouse as normal, maybe two, to get her into feeding mode, and then offer the scented rat weanling and see if she takes it. Once she's at the point where she takes one rat per feeding then offer four mice and two rat weanlings or a one slightly larger rat. After a few weeks we started offering the scented rats first. Once our guy took those readily he switched to unscented without any problems.

[TKR]

We had a male with the same issue and joked about him eating "popcorn chicken" every week, except is was four mice and not six. This is how we got him switched and he's a happy rat eater now, though he still wants live over f/t so we will work on that next. It took about a month for the transition.
Start with 4-5 mice and a rat weanling the same size as the mice. Note that larger rats will kill mice, but a weanling likely won't. Keep the mice and rat weanling all together in a large critter keeper for an hour so the rat smells nice and "mousy" and the mice pick up some rat scent. Offer one mouse as normal, maybe two, to get her into feeding mode, and then offer the scented rat weanling and see if she takes it. Once she's at the point where she takes one rat per feeding then offer four mice and two rat weanlings or a one slightly larger rat. After a few weeks we started offering the scented rats first. Once our guy took those readily he switched to unscented without any problems.

Wow thats a great idea, i will definitely try that, thanks

[digizure]

I have a 200g female pewter that will take a mouse within a second of putting the mouse into the feeding bin. I'm trying to convert her to take rats but I haven't had any luck. Do you think I should try feeding a mouse first then a rat after she takes the mouse?

[TKR]

I have a 200g female pewter that will take a mouse within a second of putting the mouse into the feeding bin. I'm trying to convert her to take rats but I haven't had any luck. Do you think I should try feeding a mouse first then a rat after she takes the mouse?

Ive tried that, my girl fell for it the first time but after she killed it she didnt eat it... and when i tried it again the next few meals she learned to not even go after them.

[WhiteSoxPyro83]

I inherited a nine year old snake about a year and a half ago. That snake lived on mice its entire life. I transitioned him over on small rats first...approximate size of a mouse. Took it right away with no problem, and now eats rats only...any size rat too. I don't get why people are so scared to feed live. As long as you are standing by ready to intervene if necessary, and not leave it unattended, I don't get why it is frowned upon. My snake will not even look at it if it's dead.

[Annarose15]

I inherited a nine year old snake about a year and a half ago. That snake lived on mice its entire life. I transitioned him over on small rats first...approximate size of a mouse. Took it right away with no problem, and now eats rats only...any size rat too. I don't get why people are so scared to feed live. As long as you are standing by ready to intervene if necessary, and not leave it unattended, I don't get why it is frowned upon. My snake will not even look at it if it's dead.

Feeding F/T isn't always about being "scared" of damage from live rodents. I feed frozen because I do not have the space or inclination in my house to breed rodents, and I don't want to have to run and pick them up every single week for 30+ snakes.