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  • 04-15-2012, 02:56 PM
    Vince407
    Need Advice on switching from Mice to Rats.
    So, my BP is about 160 grams and I figure better to switch to Rats sooner than later. Especially, since she has been eating real well lately. However, it's not happening. I have tried warming the rat a bit with a light or hair dryer, scenting the rat with a mouse by thawing together and rubbing together, and leaving the rat over night (btw... these are all frozen/thawed, appropriately sized rodents and each of these attempts has been 5 days apart). No luck. My BP seems interested... stares at the rat but never strikes. It has been about 3 weeks since her last mouse and I don't want to give in by going back to mice.
    Any other ideas or helpful advice on how to make the switch??? Thanks!
  • 04-15-2012, 03:14 PM
    ExotixTowing
    About 160 grams ??

    Have you scaled her

    Have you scaled the Rat ??
  • 04-15-2012, 03:17 PM
    Vince407
    Yes. 160 g on the gram scale. The rat pups have all been aprox 20 grams.
  • 04-15-2012, 03:26 PM
    ExotixTowing
    try a hopper, live just for the taste. My guys went to rats and have never looked back actually my normal turned down a mouse lol

    I am sure an expert will chime in about the time span of feeding but I say don't give in and scale her now to check weight
  • 04-15-2012, 03:32 PM
    Vince407
    Only went down 3 grams in the past 3 weeks. I'm not sure about trying the live just cause she has never had live... Might work though?
  • 04-15-2012, 04:14 PM
    enchantress62
    Hi, I'm a newbie to this hobby but just a few days ago I got my baby girl to eat her first rat pup. She is 165g and the rat was 22g. What I did was make her wait 2wks for a feeding then I placed the rat pup inside a bag with a medium sized mouse (both frozen). I heated a cup of water in the microwave for 3 minutes which brought it to boiling. I placed the bag in the water and let them sit there until the water was almost cool. Then I rolled them around in the bag making sure that there was plenty of mouse smell on the rat pup. I offered the rat first and she hit it like a champ. Mind you I've been trying for a long time to switch her over and I was beginning to think she would never eat rats. This worked for me. Good luck
  • 04-15-2012, 06:23 PM
    Vince407
    Thanks enchantress. That's almost exactly what I tried last night but didn't work for me... Guess I've got a picky girl. Maybe I just need to let her get a bit hungrier and try again in a week.
  • 04-15-2012, 08:20 PM
    Slim
    Keep trying the mouse scent trick. It won't hurt her to go a few weeks with out eating if she continues to refuse.

    You could also try braining the rat pup.
  • 04-15-2012, 08:48 PM
    enchantress62
    I think making them wait and get really hungry makes all the difference.
  • 04-15-2012, 09:19 PM
    fatSNAKEs
    go live ... trust me, works all the time. Good luck. :)
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