Still cannot get my bp to eat f/t rats

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Originally Posted by Silktail

We only got the uvb a couple days ago, so she's been having issues eating rats for months before.

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Yes, I see you mentioned that. My thought -- that I didn't clarify well, I apologize -- is that providing the UVB may be detrimental to the project (by adding another variable that is known to be detrimental in some situations), and also serves no benefit regarding D3 production in this species. I didn't mean to suggest that it is in fact causing the issues you're experiencing.

Definitely the hair dryer method. I just got some new snakes and they were all being fed live rodents before i got them. The hair dryer method got them all in a frenzy when it was time to eat, striking at what ever I put in front of them when I opened their tubs. How much does your snake weigh?

One other angle for things here...
From the sounds of it, you might just have a mouser. =\
Ball pythons can be notoriously picky. Sure, mice are not quite as good for them as rats are, but definitely not the worst you can do.

If it's less stress to get her to eat mice, and she takes f/t mice willingly... Might just be better to learn to work with it.

If you did want to try it a bit more, I also agree the hairdryer method being mentioned works well. That or my pickiest 2 right now will only eat rats that I thaw in a ziplock baggie in water. I guess the baggie locks the rodenty goodness in while they warm up. Maybe try that with some mouse bedding in there. But make sure it's stinky enough first.

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Originally Posted by Armiyana

... my pickiest 2 right now will only eat rats that I thaw in a ziplock baggie in water. I guess the baggie locks the rodenty goodness in while they warm up. Maybe try that with some mouse bedding in there. But make sure it's stinky enough first.

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When you thaw rodents IN water, it washes off some of the original scent. So if you have a snake that prefers mice, it might work better to wash (soak) off as much of the rat's scent as possible first, before adding some mouse scent via "stinky mouse bedding". At least that's what I'd try doing. If you start with a frozen rat, they take a while to thaw, so I'd thaw in water for a while first, & when I change the water (part-way thru thawing), that's when I'd add the mouse-scent, OR roll the fully-thawed rat in the mouse bedding after it's fully thawed & blotted off on a paper towel.

Nutritionally speaking, mice are close enough to a BP's natural diet- and domestic rats are not their natural diet either- it's mostly that the size works better once BPs are mature, so they can eat just one item that fills them up, whereas mice would be too small & require more than one, and some BPs just refuse more than one item no matter what. A BP's natural diet is African soft-furred rats, which is usually abbreviated to ASFs.

As I refreshed my own memory on ASFs (as I've never dealt with any) I noticed that various sources don't agree on whether they're rats or mice: their size falls somewhere in between & they're in a category of their own. Just something to keep in mind. There's plenty of other links to read up on them besides this one. Needless to say (for the OP), domestic rats or mice are less expensive & far easier to come by than the BPs natural prey (ASFs), & in many states ASFs are not legal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natal_multimammate_mouse

(OP-) Keep in mind that there is more than one thing you need to "get right" for many BPs to eat reliably. The method above is about scent, but that's only part of the problem. Most BPs also rely on the heat-signature of their live prey, so that's where "the hairdryer method" comes in. Their prey should also be warm as well as scented for best results.