will a jcp switch to rats after having a taste for mice?

hi, i have a pair of jcp that is a mice eater, will it switch to rats if i insist on giving it weekly? will my jcp starve itself to death if it didn't get whats it used to eat?(mice) i've tried every method like scenting rats with mice etc., but it wouldn't work,any advice?

You could pre-scent the room with a mouse and try a small rat pup around the size of its normal prey. Not sure if that would work but worth a shot.

thanks dsgb,i'll try that :)

How old are your JCPs? I had a jcp that was fed rats, then i switched to miss because i screwed up an order and then as soon as the mice were gone he took rats. I was lucky. He wasn't picky at all.

Im guessing they are pretty young because feeding 6-8 mice can be pretty annoying and you don't seemed too annoyed. :rofl: Switching can be done, but depending on the individual it can be extremely hard. Just as said before try prescenting the room. Or maybe just offer the rats straight up. Who knows, maybe they'll take them. If not then scenting is going to be the only way and it could take maybe a year if not more of scenting to have them completely switch.

Goodluck!

hi redstormlax12, my jcp's are 2yrs old, i'll try to starve them and pre scent the room w/mice before offering rats, thanks for the info :) btw, i feed them at least 8 mice per meal thats reason why i want to switch them to rats :)

I can give some advice but first I have a few questions so I know the proper advice to give. Answer as many and a thoroughly as you can to get a better responce.

How long have you been trying to feed it rats?

How many times have you tried?

How often do you try?

Try to rememeber what method you used each time and tell me in order what you have tried. And how many times you tried each method.

What is your normal feeding method for them?

When you say you feed 8 mice is that each or total for both of them?

What size rat are you trying to feed them?

Is it live or frozen thawed rats? Also what were the mice?

Can you post a current pic to show how big they both are? Something in it to make reference of size will really help too, like a pop can or quarter or pen or something common like that.

What time of day do you feed them?

How was their feeding responce before trying rats? Awesome, eatting every time? Good ate pretty much every time but sometimes skipped a meal? Poor sometimes ate, sometimes didn't?

Do the snakes still appear healthy right now? Any sign of any sickness or illness.




JCP's are very good eatter so unlike some snakes it can be a lot easier to switch them over but sometimes you can get ones that can be difficult. That fact that you are having trouble with two of them makes me think part if it could be you are doing something in your methods that could be hindering them. Don't take offence to that please I am just stating it to try and help. And it might not be you, it could just be a coincidence you go 2 difficult switchers. Age can sometimes be a factor. The older a snake is the tougher it can be but if yours are only 2 years that shouldn't factor in much.

hi van garret2000,my jcp is almost 2 years old i got him on january 2010, i feed him rat but there was a scarcity of rats in my place thats the reason why i gave him mice and eversince he develop a taste for mice and wouldn't consume rat anymore. i stop feeding him mice since june2010 and trying to convert him to rats.

1.) ive been trying to feed rats for almost 1-1/2 month now.
2.) ive tried for 3-4 times.
3.) weekly.
4.) live rat pup (feeding method).
5.) 8 mice per jcp.
6.) size of prey (rat pup).
7.) i feed live mice, same with the rat pup but he just wouldn't consume it, he just retract when he smells it.
8.) ive tried late afternoon and evening but he just wouldn't consume it, before if i feed mice they will take it anytime of the day.
9.) feeding response for mice is awesome, always takes it, never skip a meal.
10.) still appears healthy, no sign of sickness.

thanks for your time vangarret2000 :)

Is it one jcp that is stuck on mice or two? In the first post you say you have a pair on mice but the last post make it seem like it's just one.

Carpets are generally great eatters so switching over isn't usally a big deal. It seems like you got one of the few picky ones.

The fact that it is healthy is good. Snakes can easily go for months without eatting so as long as the snake stays healthy it could just be a waiting game on your hands. You don't really have to worry about a snake starving itself to death. It might not want to take the rat at first but it eventually will when it gets desperate enough. There is the odd time some snakes won't switch back but generally if you wait long enough they will change over.

When I have switched from mice to rats I have never really had to wait longer then a month for a snake to take the rat. When I have tried to switch from live to f/t I have waited months. I just switched 2 sand boas to f/t and it took both of them 3 months before they finally took the f/t, now they eat it everytime. In about a month more I would have given up hope but luckily the switched.

I would reccomend trying to feed it less often. RIght now you said weekly, but I would do it every second week, mabey even every third week. Sometimes starving them out longer will make them want to eat more. Also if you are handling them I would stop doing that until I got them switched. It can help sometimes. It's just less stress on them. Also if the snake doesn't want to eat, jsut trying to feed it more often can make it not want to eat more.

I would mabey try giving it a bigger rat. If it's eatting 8 mice it should be able to do a bigger rat ( but not too big) and sometimes when the prey is more developed and has more fur on it the snakes can be more interested in them. Usually giving a smaller prey can help but pups a still in the developing stages of life so something more developed might interest it more. Even jsut a small right could be big enough.

Stick with the evening feedings. He will be more awake so that can help.

One thing is now that you stopped trying mice don't give it a mouse again. If it gets another mouse the chances of swtiching it over lowers a lot. It's waiting for the food that it wants so if you give it to him now he will think that all he has to do is wait to get it so that's something he would jsut keep doing in the future. Once he realizes he has to settle for the rat he will take it.

Letting the rat run around in the mouse shavings can sometimes give it enough of a mosue smell to help.

I have never tried this but I have heard some people to wash the rat with a mild soap to get it's scent off then rubbing it with a mouse to make it smell like a mouse.

Pre-scenting the room can help too. putting a mosue in the room in the morning and leaving it there for the day then trying to feed at night.

All the prescenting stuff though I never do myself. I find just the waiting game has always worked for me but if you want to try some of them go ahead.


One time I had trouble getting a snake to switch from live to f/t so one thing I tried was holding a live mouse out side of the tank so the snake could see it through the glass then I put the f/t mouse in front of it's face and it took it. It worked when I did it but I only tried it that one time so I am not sure how affective it can really be for others.

Hopefully some of this might help. If it was my snake what I would do is jsut try feeding it the rat every two weeks until it ate it. As long as the snake stayed healthy i'd just wait it out until he takes it. Nothing fancy really but the waiting game generally works.

THis is something I just randomly read on a different forum and thoguht I should post it here. It's from a guy that is a big breeder of snakes and does a lot of carpets too. He is talking about carpets in general, not your in particular.

"Carpet Pythons should be switched to rats ASAP & never offered mice again.
If small enough rat pinkies are available they should never even see a mouse.
You do not want a 7ft snake that will eat nothing but mice & require a dozen or more at a time.
The sooner it is eating nothing but rats the better! "


One thing I didn't really consider is I have switched from mice to rats many times, but I have never switched from rats to mice to rats. This guy is amazing when it comes to sankes so if he thinks giving a carpet a mouse after it being on rats is really bad I would think you might have a problem on your hands. Hopefully some of the advice you have gotten on this thread will help but it looks like you giving it a mouse could have been a big mistake.

Tough love is usually the best thing to try when switching picky eaters.

A healthy snake will not starve itself to death.