Switching to Rats?

My 08 female pastel wont eat rats plain and simple they can be the same exact size as the mice she was eating before, and same color, everything except its a rat! how can i switch this? Because feeding her 3-4 adult mice is getting annoying! also once i get my baby spider male established and settled i want to switch him to rats as well.

Here's what I did. I got some mouse bedding from the pet store, and put a handful in the front of the snake's enclosure. When the snake came out actively looking for the source of the scent, I dropped in the rat and she went for it.

I've also had some that didn't want to switch, so I employed tough love. If your snake is a good weight and body condition, offer the rat. If it refuses, remove the rat and try again the following week. By the fifth or sixth week, they finally took the rat. If you "give in" and offer a mouse because they won't take a rat, you have to start the "tough love" process over again.

if i just walk into say petco and ask for used mice bedding will thy give it to me?

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Originally Posted by camb

if i just walk into say petco and ask for used mice bedding will thy give it to me?

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They may look at you funny. Find a mom and pop pet store instead if you can. Mine sells feeder rodents, so when I explained why I wanted it they understood.

Petco sometimes says they don't sell live feeders, so if you tell them why, they may refuse to sell you a feeder rat.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

They may look at you funny. Find a mom and pop pet store instead if you can. Mine sells feeder rodents, so when I explained why I wanted it they understood.

Petco sometimes says they don't sell live feeders, so if you tell them why, they may refuse to sell you a feeder rat.

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Its funny when you mention the regional managers name:weirdface what they do when it goes against company policy.

well the thing is my bp is on frozen, but only frozen mice. so hopefully they will still sell me a frozen rat as well as the used bedding, haha.

When I switched my girl to rats, I picked up a slightly smaller mouse than I had been feeding her, and a little rat, and as soon as she finished swallowing the mouse, I put the rat in. She struck it pretty quick since she was already in a feeding mode.

Of course she was a monster of an eater around the time I switched her over. She is a bit more pickey now, but she is also considerably older.

Good luck!

you can also try putting a mouse in with the rat before you feed the rat to the snake the scent from the mouse will be on the rat and the snake should take it, that's how i got mine to switch