Switching to Rats?

So I think I have found someone to supply some rats of the correct size for my bp but I dont know if she'll take them any tips on the switch?

If she's a good eater, she should switch with no problems.

First, try it. If no luck, try scenting them. Rub the rats in mouse bedding to give them a mousy scent...then kind of wean them off the mousy scented rats...

Only one way to find out. You get into scenting and all that fun stuff if you run into problems. Some will take rats not hesitation,The only problem I ran into was one of mine killing it but not eating it. I just threw her another rat the next week and she's been on them since.

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Originally Posted by sho220

First, try it. If no luck, try scenting them. Rub the rats in mouse bedding to give them a mousy scent...then kind of wean them off the mousy scented rats...

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I didn't even see your response until I finished mine, basically hit the same points. Right on :)

Give it a whirl and see what happens. I switched mine over three weeks ago and there were no issues. I did everything the exact same, he didn't seem to care wheather it was a mouse or a rate, he just ate it. I still had one mouse left though, to try the scenting trick if he didn't switch, so I gave that to him, he ate it, then switched back to rats.

I will be attempting this transition in about an hour and a half, there is a rat warming in my bathroom right now. I am going to try straight rat tonight and see what happens. She has been an awesome eater and has struck at everything that I have given her so far. If she does not take the rat tonight, I will try again tomorrow with a rat scented with mouse. Tons of threads here about switching to rats with lots of good advice.

yeah, now that i took a closer look I dont think she'll eat the rats I have avalible, they are just too big going from mouse to small rat is a huge jump and finding a breeder that i can buy from is a pain the guy I thought could get me some rats is saying he has nothing smaller and well hes over an hour away. to add to it all he isnt breeding anymore so they will only get bigger.

If you still have a small mouse left, you can feed it first and as the snake is finishing it just put a small FT rat right behind it. As long as the total weight of both isn't too much it shouldn't be an issue and gives the snake the taste of the rat. After that it shouldn't be a problem. Had success with this switching from live to FT as well.

I could try that but shes not a fan of ft and I think I dont heat the mouse/rat up properly. I also dont like ft she likes the hunt its easier and I watch to make sure the mouse is the only one hurt.