Took her first rat today!

[kgrah1]

Marble has been steadfastly stubborn in her pickyness, often dismissing rats as potential prey and instead labeling them as objects to be ignored or feared, much like the houseplants. But I saw a method on here I hadn't tried yet, so I gave it a go. And it worked!

Normally, I just dunk the mouse in hot water and she snaps it right up, but that didn't work for rats, because it made scenting them much harder(hot water washes off most of it). Then I tried heating them with a hairdryer, but that took forever and I had to stop when my desk started smoking. Then I tried putting them in a ziploc bag and dunk the bag in the water, so it would cook them together. It took longer than I expected, but they cooked. The first feed, I rubbed the mouse ad the rat together and gave her the mouse. She was a little wary but took it. As soon as she knew it was a mouse, it was gone. The the next feed, I rubbed them together and offered both. Two options was apparently far too many options, because she couldn't decide which to attack and took neither. Then she had a shed. Today was the first feed after that shed, and she didn't want to be bothered. The smell of hot water didn't interest her, and neither did the smell of prey. Or so I thought.

This disinterest stopped the second I opened the bag and the steamy smell came out everywhere. She was suddenly very interested. I offered the rat, and she wasn't sure. I wiggled it a little and reheated the head, and she got a little less uncomfortable. Then I booped her face with it. She struck maybe two seconds later. I turned the lights off and left the room so she could eat, and I waited half an hour to find out whether she ate or just "killed" it and left guts everywhere, which she does when she strikes defensively. When I came back, she was swallowing the tail, so I guess she liked it. Should I keep repeating this process until I know she'll take rats, or is once enough? I should probably mention this rat had a little mouse blood on its face.

[goddessbaby]

Awesome! its always nice when they take that first rat.

Some things to consider, you're not cooking the rat, just thawing it. You can leave it out a few hours to let it thaw and then dip it in the hot water or blast it with the dryer to get it to the right temp. Some people let it thaw under a heat lamp near the enclosure to get the snake hyped up for dinner time. I personally let it thaw in lukewarm water and a blast from the blow dryer near the enclosure starts a feeding frenzy.

Good luck with your next feeding, hope all goes fantastic!

[kgrah1]

One thing I notice is that the rat cooks slower, so if I put them in together, the mouse overcooks and probably busts a vein somewhere, because there's usually blood all over the nose and mouth. I think for the next feed I'll put the mouse and the rat together again, but the one after that I'll only give her the rat. I've tried just thawing the mice and heating them later, but for some reason the stomachs bloat and are prone to bursting, which is a hassle to clean up. Since then, I just put the frozen mouse in hot water until it's soft and warm. She usually takes it as soon as it's presented to her.