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.

If you pull a rat out and just give it a few hours to sit there it will be thawed completely. If your not sure its thawed, have it in a baggie and gently squeeze it a while and see if you can feel any coldness. If you cant, its good to go. Then just warm the head with a blow dryer a little so that the snake has a proper target for its heat seeking jaws and there you go. FT is so much easier to deal with. You can buy in bulk, store, and you don't have to run out to get another. No fuss, no muss, easy peasy.

On a side note, never seen a snake injured by a dead mouse, unless you threw it at them frozen. Then you could put an eye out.

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Originally Posted by Ogre

going from mouse to small rat is a huge jump

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True. A better transition from adult mice would be with a rat put or maybe a crawler.

Slim, you are absolutely correct. I used the wrong vernacular. I was using the word "small" to mean tiny, not as the size as it correlates to the feeder rats. My bad.

I think both prey items should be either similar in size or even using a smaller mouse just to get him started and then use the appropriate size rat. The main things is just keeping the total weight of both in proportion to the snake. Would you agree?

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Originally Posted by rlditmars

The main things is just keeping the total weight of both in proportion to the snake. Would you agree?

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Absolutely! :gj:

So, question. Is it ok to transition from adult mouse to small rat when the small rat is of appropriate weight? I did end up feeding last night and she took the small rat like a champ. She weighed in at 325g and the rat was 40g. The small rat was one of the smaller ones in my bag....if this is too drastic a change I will buy something smaller on rodent pro and eat the 40$ shipping

Brokenangelr,

Rats are better nutritionally than mice as they have more protein and better muscle mass. Besides, mice will eventually be too small to be a sufficient meal without feeding multiple animals in one feeding. Sounds like if she took a rat, all is good. Just use the rats you have smallest to largest. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that the diameter of the rat is not much larger than the largest diameter of the snake. If it is, you'll want to save it for another feeding later when the snake is larger.

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Originally Posted by rlditmars

Brokenangelr,

Rats are better nutritionally than mice as they have more protein and better muscle mass. Besides, mice will eventually be too small to be a sufficient meal without feeding multiple animals in one feeding. Sounds like if she took a rat, all is good. Just use the rats you have smallest to largest. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that the diameter of the rat is not much larger than the largest diameter of the snake. If it is, you'll want to save it for another feeding later when the snake is larger.

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Since there has been no study done on the nutritional REQUIREMENTS of ball pythons, you can't say rats are a better nutritional source.

I raised my founding females on mice. I have switched to rats because it's more efficient to feed rats, but no individual keeper should be told that rats are better than mice, if feeding mice is easier for them. There are thousands of healthy mousers out there.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Since there has been no study done on the nutritional REQUIREMENTS of ball pythons, you can't say rats are a better nutritional source.

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While I understand there hasn't been any actual study on the subject, isn't it pretty unanimous around the hobby once you get your animals on rats they start growing like weeds? I know personally that is what I have seen in my collection.

Mine go between afs's and rats, what ever I have available at the time. No mousers here, so don't know. They have eaten the occasional mouse in the past before we started breeding our own feed. But all of mine have gone back and forth seamlessly. All of mine are growing like weeds, especially my girls seem to really be packing on size.

If she will keep taking rats, then I will not be switching her back. The question was based on the advice given to the OP about switching from an adult mouse to a small rat based on size. The rat was not too much bigger than her body and the weight was appropriate in proportion to her weight. The rat was one of the smallest ones that I have in the bag. I will keep trucking with the rats. Was very happy that she took the rat and happily gobbled it down on first offering :)