What do you do with uneaten rats?

She didn't eat, so this morning I removed the dead rat. I did wiggle it on the tongs, but she just balled up tighter. :( She un-balled herself and moved around the cage last night. After 10 days, I thought she'd be hungry. My male has yet to refuse food (fingers crossed), and I expected her to do the same.

Skunks will eat dead rats.

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Originally Posted by butterballpython

She didn't eat, so this morning I removed the dead rat. I did wiggle it on the tongs, but she just balled up tighter. :( She un-balled herself and moved around the cage last night. After 10 days, I thought she'd be hungry. My male has yet to refuse food (fingers crossed), and I expected her to do the same.

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They are all different. Expect nothing but the unexpected. Now that you have two however, if they are on the same size food, thaw half of what you think you need and feed your problem feeders first. If the problem feeders refuse the gluttons get it. If by chance you still have stuff left over you can usually re-freeze at least once if it has not been out too long. When the re-feezing goes wrong you end up with exploding rat when it is thawed again.

What is your set up like? Usually they will only stay balled up tightly when there is no where to hide that feels secure. If she is just out in the middle of the tank balled up, then she needs an appropriate hide. If she is balled up in a hide, then she is just adjusting to the new home. Continue trying to feed on whatever your normal schedule is and don't handle her until she has eaten several good meals.

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Originally Posted by Willowy

Skunks will eat dead rats.

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I was afraid of that.

The two are on different sized food. When I weighed the male last week he was at 168 grams, and the female was 260 grams the week before she shipped. There are two hides, one at the warm end and one at the cooler end, and she's balling up and hiding in them. She did come out and spent some time checking out her new home last night for the first time, and she checked to see if the cover was on securely. It was.

Exploding rat does not sound like something I really want to see. Yuck. I'm still getting used to waving thawed dead rats under the bp's noses. Maybe later on, but not right now. :O

As far as doing the unexpected, Brickle, my butter male, seems to think the rats taste better if he hisses at them first. :snake: Silly guy.

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Originally Posted by The Golem

Once the temperature of the prey drops to ambient temp, it is not food anymore so there's no point in leaving it in overnight.

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Can't say I totally agree with this, I recently had to leave my boa's meal in with her overnight since she was in shed, was still there in the morning and at my own risk I decided to leave it until I came home at lunchtime. It was gone when I got home, so she ate it over twelve hours later.

OK, next time if Bubbles doesn't eat it I'll leave it in there longer.

What I jokingly referred to earlier--Brickle hisses at the prey and then strikes. In the wild, that would probably be a disadvantage, because it would give the prey an extra second's notice that it was about to be grabbed. Do they all do this?

I was told to leave the snakes alone for two days after feeding, but I miss handling Brickle. He's such a friendly guy, it's fun to have him out. I don't want to handle Bubbles until she's less stressed and has eaten. I'm hoping she'll eat soon, she hasn't eaten since about a week before she was shipped to me, and that's 11 days ago.

What do I do with uneaten prey? Well I got boas and a Savannah monitor. I am confident that I will never have uneaten food again.

But it on a serious note, for picky eaters I leave it overnight, and usually it will be gone the next morning.

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Originally Posted by Kokorobosoi

What do I do with uneaten prey? Well I got boas and a Savannah monitor. I am confident that I will never have uneaten food again.

But it on a serious note, for picky eaters I leave it overnight, and usually it will be gone the next morning.

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Wish my Kingsnake was large enough to be a garbage disposal for BP rejected meals - but I don't think he could quite handle it! Not for lack of being willing to try - he gets excited about rats that are bigger than he is! - but here is yet another reason to justify me getting a boa... Not a huge one, perhaps, but I do really want a BRB.

If they won't eat the rat, and none of the other BPs want it, I may put it in the fridge, then heat it up that night or the next day and offer it again. If they still won't eat, it goes in the trash. My cat keeps offering to help me with those, and being told to go eat her kibble.

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Originally Posted by Kokorobosoi

What do I do with uneaten prey? Well I got boas and a Savannah monitor. I am confident that I will never have uneaten food again.

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This, except it's boas and retics. Though a full-sized retic looks rather ridiculous eating a small rat.