Trying to switch to rats, snake is confused. Tips?

Normally, I put the frozen mouse on the shelf next to her tank while I boil some water. When she smells the water, she comes out and I do our little feed ritual so she eats(legit she won't eat unless I do it). She'll usually take the mouse.

Today I tried to give her a rat. The first time I tried this, she was much smaller and terrified of it. This time it's about the same size as the mice she gets and she wasn't afraid at all. I dunked the rat in the water with the mouse, then put them both under a hair dryer to dry and I scented the rat. When I offered it to her, she went right up to it like she normally does, sniffed the hell out of it, crawled around sniffing some more, and then looked at me confusedly. This was not a mouse.

The rat got cold, so I reheated it and scented it again, rubbing the mouse on it a little harder. This got her to sniff more intensely, but ultimately produced the same result. How can I get her to take the rat? She is less than a year old.

You can feed a live rat pup or a live rat weanling. Or just keep trying frozen. Rat pups are equivalent to large mice I believe.

Its not that your snakes confused its that your snake is a ball python and they are known to be picky about what they eat... if you really want to scent the rat your better off getting some soiled bedding from a pet store and doing it that way vs using a wet previously frozen mouse

Skip a week or two of feeding so she's good and hungry. Won't hurt her at all and it will likely increase your chances.

Like she was really interested and reacting the same as she would with a mouse. And then she went right up to it and smelled the hell out of it, and then it ceased to be prey and it became a New Thing that she must acquaint herself with. She does the same thing when presented with a houseplant.

Skip a week of feeding AND go live. BPs are notorious finicky and picky eaters. Have to get them good and hungry/motivated for the rat.

Now you now why I convert mine when they're still on mouse hoppers. They are much more likely to switch when they are young, hungry, and hit anything that moves.

You can try scenting with bedding. Make sure all other conditions are ideal. At night, make sure the rat is hot enough, make sure there's no distractions (like a TV on in the background). If necessary you can also try braining. It's a little gross in concept, but it's not hard. Also, don't try too often to get her to feed. If she skips one, wait until the next appropriate feeding day. I don't recommend going live until it's a last resort because they can get stuck and be picky and refuse f/t after that.

I'm having this problem too. I've had my BP a little over 2 weeks (brand new owner) & he ate a small f/t mouse which I had to leave in his tank (he ate it after 30 mins). 5 days later I gave him a medium f/t mouse; same deal: left in tank & he ate. This past Wed & Thur I offered a f/t rat fuzzy which he didn't eat. I'm thinking he might just like mice, plus the breeder gave him live & f/t. I'm not sure if I should buy live mice or not, plus I have 25 rat fuzzies & 25 pups that might be stuck in the fridge for awhile. Not sure if I should wait a few more days & try again w/th rat fuzzy

First I would make sure to check to see the temps are spot on. Then I would continue to offer the new prey item. As long as the animal is in good health/weight to begin with. You can keep on trying on a weekly basis. I believe eventually it will take it. I picked up Blackpin from a very good breeder last year. When he got here he didn't want f/t. The breeder said he was a great eater and eating frozen. He suggested to just try waiting him out (his weight was good for his age). But I wasn't crazy about letting a little guy not eat, So I tried fresh killed. He took it, I feed him every four to five days for a couple of months. Not large prey items, a little smaller than I would normally do. He became a good little eater. One day I offered him a f/t he checked it out, but wouldn't take it. It went like that for two weeks. On the third he stuck so fast I jumped. Hope it all works out for.

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

I'm having this problem too. I've had my BP a little over 2 weeks (brand new owner) & he ate a small f/t mouse which I had to leave in his tank (he ate it after 30 mins). 5 days later I gave him a medium f/t mouse; same deal: left in tank & he ate. This past Wed & Thur I offered a f/t rat fuzzy which he didn't eat. I'm thinking he might just like mice, plus the breeder gave him live & f/t. I'm not sure if I should buy live mice or not, plus I have 25 rat fuzzies & 25 pups that might be stuck in the fridge for awhile. Not sure if I should wait a few more days & try again w/th rat fuzzy

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Please tell me they're in a freezer, yes? Let him have 4-5 days in b/w feeding attempts. Too often is stressful.

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Originally Posted by anicatgirl

Please tell me they're in a freezer, yes? Let him have 4-5 days in b/w feeding attempts. Too often is stressful.

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Yes they're in the freezer

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Originally Posted by Sonny1318

First I would make sure to check to see the temps are spot on. Then I would continue to offer the new prey item. As long as the animal is in good health/weight to begin with. You can keep on trying on a weekly basis. I believe eventually it will take it. I picked up Blackpin from a very good breeder last year. When he got here he didn't want f/t. The breeder said he was a great eater and eating frozen. He suggested to just try waiting him out (his weight was good for his age). But I wasn't crazy about letting a little guy not eat, So I tried fresh killed. He took it, I feed him every four to five days for a couple of months. Not large prey items, a little smaller than I would normally do. He became a good little eater. One day I offered him a f/t he checked it out, but wouldn't take it. It went like that for two weeks. On the third he stuck so fast I jumped. Hope it all works out for.

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Temps are good, but I'm having trouble keeping th humidity up. I will be giving him a tub setup very soon (he's in a glass tank now).

I don't know if his weight is healthy or not; I can't see his ribs & he's fairly active. I got him from royal constrictor designs & when he shipped him to me Reggie was 140g. The other day his empty weight was 155g, so he has gained under my care. But keep in mind his hatch date was Oct '14. Maybe he's naturally petite?

But anyway, I will try another tonight. I don't really want to go live because th closest pet store that sells live feeders is 15/20 miles down the interstate, plus who knows what sorts of parasites they might carry? Here's a pic of him:)

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...ddb4bc207f.jpg

I have a couple of BPs that were mice feeders. 2 were F/T, 1 was live only. When I first tried to switch, I offered all of them F/T rat pups. All of them had the same reaction as yours. So the next week, I dropped in live rat pups. All of them took awhile to investigate, but struck and ate. Did the same thing the second week, and they struck a little faster. By the third week, the strike was immediate and without hesitation. Fourth week, I was going to pre-kill first, but decided to offer F/T just to see what happened. I was surprised that all of them took the F/T rat pups, with a little zombie dance action.
Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Sonny1318

First I would make sure to check to see the temps are spot on. Then I would continue to offer the new prey item. As long as the animal is in good health/weight to begin with. You can keep on trying on a weekly basis. I believe eventually it will take it. I picked up Blackpin from a very good breeder last year. When he got here he didn't want f/t. The breeder said he was a great eater and eating frozen. He suggested to just try waiting him out (his weight was good for his age). But I wasn't crazy about letting a little guy not eat, So I tried fresh killed. He took it, I feed him every four to five days for a couple of months. Not large prey items, a little smaller than I would normally do. He became a good little eater. One day I offered him a f/t he checked it out, but wouldn't take it. It went like that for two weeks. On the third he stuck so fast I jumped. Hope it all works out for.

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When th mouse was mostly thawed, I put it on top of his tank where he could smell it for a few hrs before feeding time. He struck very fast!

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

Temps are good, but I'm having trouble keeping th humidity up. I will be giving him a tub setup very soon (he's in a glass tank now).

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i have used glass tanks for my bps, i just got them in tub setups about a month ago. if you are having trouble keeping humidity then try using foil. what i did was cut out a piece of cardboard the size of the screen on top or you can leave a little of one side open if you prefer, and then wrapped it in tin/aluminum foil and poked decent sized holes through it. next time you mist the enclosure the humidity should stay in longer than usual. it worked really good for me and i didnt have too much trouble with humidity after that which is why i didnt switch to a tub setup right away. plus i live in the south where its pretty humid so i dont have to mist as much. :gj:

hopefully you get the little guy to eat too, mine are picky about food too, even my larger female who is about 1400+ grams. yours will eat soon enough when hes good and hungry, try skipping a couple meals and see if that works. my new firefly is picky too, she was just switched over to rats before i got her and she took a couple just fine but now i have to scent the rat with a mouse to get her to eat, which i dont mind doing since shes still eating a rat in the end but its frustrating lol
good luck!

I switch mine over by thawing a mouse and rat pup together in the same zip-lock bag. Feed the mouse followed by the rat. After doing this for two or three feedings I still thaw a mouse with the rat but only feed the rat. Then it's only the rat from there on out. Have done this a few times and it's always worked for me.

Is that safe? Her mice are jumbos and the rats are weaned. The rats are close enough in size to the mice, but she's never had two mice in one feed before.

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Originally Posted by SadieJ

Temps are good, but I'm having trouble keeping th humidity up. I will be giving him a tub setup very soon (he's in a glass tank now).

I don't know if his weight is healthy or not; I can't see his ribs & he's fairly active. I got him from royal constrictor designs & when he shipped him to me Reggie was 140g. The other day his empty weight was 155g, so he has gained under my care. But keep in mind his hatch date was Oct '14. Maybe he's naturally petite?

But anyway, I will try another tonight. I don't really want to go live because th closest pet store that sells live feeders is 15/20 miles down the interstate, plus who knows what sorts of parasites they might carry? Here's a pic of him:)

I bought all my ball pythons from Garrick (Royal constrictors), he's a great guy and always willing to give advice. I don't blame you for wanting to get him on live. I pay 1.10 per f/t jumbo mouse ( including shipping) vs. 4$ plus from the local big chain pet stores. Hang in there, he'll switch. Just be a little patience.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...ddb4bc207f.jpg

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On Saturday night he took a f/t medium mouse, struck very fast! I'll try a f/t rat fuzzy next time he needs to eat