mice to rats...

hi, is it possible to convert a 1200g ball to rats from mice? i have one that really doesn't want to accept rats, any advise? thanks in advance

Take a mouse and rub it all over a proper size rat then feed it to the snake. That puts the mouse scent on the rat so it thinks it is eating a mouse. then on the next feeding just feed the rat. Some times this works and sometimes it doesn't. best of luck though

Or just put the rat in a container of soiled mouse bedding for a couple hours and then attempt to feed it to the snake. That has worked well for me.

Tough love. Just stop offering mice. A snake that size can go quite a while without a meal.

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Originally Posted by wendhend

Or just put the rat in a container of soiled mouse bedding for a couple hours and then attempt to feed it to the snake. That has worked well for me.

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exactly what i've done, and worked in the first attemp.

You want to do like others have said in there posting.
The method is called scenting.

I have an albino that is a mouse destroyer and it gets expensive considering her size and how many big mice it takes to feed her in the aspect that one medium rat can equal 7-8 mice in equal weight depending on your feeder supply of course...

What I do is save all the nasty mouse bedding in a five gallon bucket. I then drop the rats that I feed her in there a day ahead of time with scratch feed and the next night I have rats that smell like mice and she eats every time. Has never failed for me. Hope this helps you out.

J

Have you tried offering this girl mice? None of mine have an issue switching between rats and mice. But like others have said, scent the rat if she won't take it.

thanks a lot guys :) i'll try that:)

I was just speaking with a big breeder at a show recently on this topic. She suggested that one of the most important things one can do is heat up the prey item to very very high temperatures. Obviously if you are offering live, then this does not matter......
Best of luck. I'll be trying to switch some time very soon myself.

hi mr.s, im feeding live, my bp is not interested in rat(dead or alive), but will eat a mice, im trying to convert her to rats because of her size, she can easily eat 5 mice every meal.