Re: switching to rats from mice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozone
when i defrost my rats the rat is full of water. i heat the rat to be same as live and then i put it on my snake. did you do the same? i saw many pictures that many people give the rat/chick/mice without heating them. is that possible to do with BP?
Are you saying they give them to the snakes still frozen? That is way wrong. The prey item needs to be fully defrosted before being fed.
Re: switching to rats from mice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozone
when i defrost my rats the rat is full of water. i heat the rat to be same as live and then i put it on my snake. did you do the same? i saw many pictures that many people give the rat/chick/mice without heating them. is that possible to do with BP?
You should ALWAYS make sure the rodent is defrosted completely. If the rodent is not completely defrosted, it can cause health problems and/or death for your snakes. If your rats are getting full of water, you should try putting them in a plastic bag before you defrost. It should keep them dry.
Re: switching to rats from mice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by daniel1983
You should ALWAYS make sure the rodent is defrosted completely. If the rodent is not completely defrosted, it can cause health problems and/or death for your snakes. If your rats are getting full of water, you should try putting them in a plastic bag before you defrost. It should keep them dry.
I would doubt they are getting FULL of water. I defrost mine by soaking in water and leave them wet to provide the snake with extra hydration. I do drain a lot of the water off before I feed and I have never seen water come out of the mouth.
Re: switching to rats from mice!
sorry for the mistake full of water = wet :P
yew i saw many people feeding wet rodents. if you don't warm the rat before you give it to the snake may refused it? i always heat the rat with hair heat machine:)
but why my ball python is not coil the rat and she stared eating without killing the rat(frozen) he felt that is already dead?
Re: switching to rats from mice!
Always make sure the rodent is warm.
The reaction when feeding f/t all depends on the ball python. When I was feeding F/t, i would set the mouse in the enclosure and my male bp would just eat it (no attack, no coil)...he would just slither over and eat. As long as your bp is eating, I would not worry about it.
The only problem you may encounter with the rodent being wet, is that a wet rodent does not smell as much as a dry rodent....so your snakes feeding responce may be reduced. But since you are using a hair dryer, you rodent should be nice and dry :)
Re: switching to rats from mice!
Re: switching to rats from mice!
If you want to switch it may sound silly but why not just try a rat before wondering if he will take it.
There are planty of methods to encourage him if he won't take it but I'd bet he will just go for it straight off.
Re: switching to rats from mice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozone
sorry for the mistake full of water = wet :P
yew i saw many people feeding wet rodents. if you don't warm the rat before you give it to the snake may refused it? i always heat the rat with hair heat machine:)
but why my ball python is not coil the rat and she stared eating without killing the rat(frozen) he felt that is already dead?
ahhh..no problem! Yeah, I always feed them wet. The snakes dont seem to mind...They might very well refuse a rat that isnt warmed. They sense the heat signature either from live prey or from a warmed up dead food item. I have some that could care less though..
Re: switching to rats from mice!
When I feed Salina f/t mice, I warm them in a bag. I keep all my mice separate in thier own zip loc bags. On feeding day I toss one in the sink full of hot water, and come back and get it in 20 -30 min. I pull the dry mouse out of the bag with tongs and dangle it in front of her. I have never had a mouse explode or even seen blood using this process. The same might work for rats, I would just leave them on the sink a little longer.
