Snakes have rat "brand" preference?

[sneksNferts]

I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced this.

My BP reliably "kills" and eats his f/t rats from Big Cheese Rodent Factory with a vengeance but there was a period there where BC was out of his size when I had to do a reorder and I went with South Florida Rodent. He went from always accepting every 2 weeks to refusing regularly almost as soon as I started him on the SFR ones. He's back on Big Cheese now and back to his old self.

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[KevinK]

Its obviously not brand preference as much as it would be the conditions the rodents are raised in from each supplier

You could have any of the following at play:

Other rodents, or animals being raised in the same room (chicks, ASF's, or mice perhaps).
More rats per tub resulting in a stronger smell
Less frequent bedding changes resulting in a stronger smell
A big wheel of cheese in the rodent room resulting in foul smelling, french rats that are more desirable....

Your guess is as good as mine....just be glad you don't have to mutilate f/t rats with a strip of mouse fur to get a baby Burm to eat. Id much rather have a picky BP when it comes to feeding issues lol.

[omglolchrisss]

I was actually just talking about this to my girlfriend the other day. When we were getting them from the old supplier feeding was a chore so much coaxing and whether he would eat would be a dice roll. Since we switched he always has his head at the top of the enclosure waiting we dont even have a chance to lower it in before he grabs it!

[dboeren]

Just a bit different smell I think, whether from different diet, different living conditions, or whatever. It may not even be that it smells more/less attractive as just being unfamiliar if they're used to their prey smelling a certain way.