tips on switching feed

So im woundering if anyone has some tips to help move my fire ball python from rat pups to feeders mice. When i first got him i was told he was eating 1 or 2 rat pups but couldnt find rat pups so i tried feeding him a fuzzy of the same size but he wanted nothing to do with it, i finally got a rat pup and he went right for it, but there expensive about 5$ a pop and i have to travel 1 round trip to order and pay for them and then in 2 days drive back and pick them up... will he maybe take a mouse once he gets a little bigger or is it as i read where he is just a picky one and im stuck With the rats

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Originally Posted by M.P.C

So im woundering if anyone has some tips to help move my fire ball python from rat pups to feeders mice. When i first got him i was told he was eating 1 or 2 rat pups but couldnt find rat pups so i tried feeding him a fuzzy of the same size but he wanted nothing to do with it, i finally got a rat pup and he went right for it, but there expensive about 5$ a pop and i have to travel 1 round trip to order and pay for them and then in 2 days drive back and pick them up... will he maybe take a mouse once he gets a little bigger or is it as i read where he is just a picky one and im stuck With the rats

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A BP can be particular. I had mine switched from mice to rats quickly but then one decided she wanted mice after a month of rats so she's back to mice...😧 it happens

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Yeah i have no real issue with paying the money its just stupid to have to drive 2 hrs a week just to feed one little guy when i can go 1 min up the road and get some mice but they wont order rat pups becase there suplier dosent offer them and no one really asks for them around here

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Originally Posted by M.P.C

Yeah i have no real issue with paying the money its just stupid to have to drive 2 hrs a week just to feed one little guy when i can go 1 min up the road and get some mice but they wont order rat pups becase there suplier dosent offer them and no one really asks for them around here

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Sometimes in order to get them to eat a new prey item, you may have to let them skip a meal or two. If anyone nearby has rats, ask for a small amount of soiled bedding and cover the mouse in it so it smells like and rat!

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0.1 Albino corn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M.P.C

So im woundering if anyone has some tips to help move my fire ball python from rat pups to feeders mice. When i first got him i was told he was eating 1 or 2 rat pups but couldnt find rat pups so i tried feeding him a fuzzy of the same size but he wanted nothing to do with it, i finally got a rat pup and he went right for it, but there expensive about 5$ a pop and i have to travel 1 round trip to order and pay for them and then in 2 days drive back and pick them up... will he maybe take a mouse once he gets a little bigger or is it as i read where he is just a picky one and im stuck With the rats

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Most BP's will take mice without issue.

The only way to know for sure is to give him a mouse and see what happens.

I have some snakes that are pretty particular in what they eat. For example, one of my most extreme cases is my male spider who will only eat white male rats... wont eat brown, black and wont eat females. Kind of strange.

Depending on how old your snake is and if he has been fed rats his whole life, it may be impossible to switch. Could you not go the two hours to buy 50 rats in bulk? Saves you the trip and if he grows out of the pup rats before they are all gone, you can just feed two at a time. This would save time and gas.

If you really want him to eat mice, you can try skipping two feedings and get him really hungry. Rub the rat smell all over the mouse and offer it to him. There is no guarantee it will work. I have tried this personally and sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.

ive hade him since march 13th but when i got him i was told he was a hatchling and just shed 2 weeks prior and ate the week before i got him... ill try the soiled bedding first, then ill try skipping a week or so. and i dont have the room to store and care for a bunch of babies. otherwise i would rather have the food on hand instead of having to get it every week