Switching to rats

I recently acquired a BP through a friend that couldn't care for him anyou longer, he's very healthy, growing fast, and eats great. The only thing I don't like is that he refuses frozen food. It wasn't a problem with mice, but the rats stress me out. He's successfully eaten 2 so far, no problems there. But I am terrified he's going to get bitten and end up with some infection or something. He won't take a pretty killed. In fact, if you drop a rat in and it just sits in the corner, he's not interested. It has to be walking for him to strike. Any tips on that?

Another issue I'm having is how often I should feed. The rats are such a huge jump in size, and I fear I'm over feeding.

http://i68.tinypic.com/2z6grh3.jpg

So many autocorrect problems in there. Sorry about that

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Originally Posted by OgresEatYou

In fact, if you drop a rat in and it just sits in the corner, he's not interested. It has to be walking for him to strike. Any tips on that?

Another issue I'm having is how often I should feed. The rats are such a huge jump in size, and I fear I'm over feeding.

http://i68.tinypic.com/2z6grh3.jpg

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Have you tried the Zombie rat dance. Basically get some feeding tongs and hold the rat by the back skin and move it around the tub as if it is still alive. Also use a blow dryer to heat up the head a bit more. when he strikes and wraps let go of the back and start tugging on the tail. It will simulate a live rat. When he wraps a bit tighter let go and you got it. Good luck!! :gj:

I have a couple snakes that'll eat f/t that you just drop in the tub, as long as they smell the rats before I open the tub, but for a snake that doesn't care much for f/t you have to do the dance and entice them a little. I've fed live a few times and I really don't like it, last time the snake hit the butt and basically strangled the wrong half of the rat, so it was alive and screaming the whole time and I stood over it making sure it didn't bite my snake.

If you want to switch him get a scale, weigh him, then watch his weight. Every week try to feed him f/t, if he keeps refusing then watch his weight. If he drops too much then feed him some live, but eventually he'll probably take f/t.

When I got my last pair of Coastal Carpets, the previous owner said that they would only eat Live Mice, no rats at all.

To ensure a smooth transition on the first try, I bought two frozen mice and mixed them with two rats in one bag. I rubbed them all together real well to combine the smells. I skipped a feeding to ensure good appetites as well. So the mice were mixed in with the rats for ten days.

I feed the F/T mouse first, worked, they converted to frozen. After they swallowed the mice I offered the rats. Success, now they are converted to F/T rats.




They haven't had any mice since.


Mack the Knife, Coastal Carpet
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Slight tangent here but whilst it's a beautifully set out vivarium I'd add some more branches and even plastic foliage , maybe even some chunks of bark from nearby woods or something ( they provide more hiding places ) . It all helps to make them feel more secure . There's a lot of wide open space there for a Royal.

Good luck anyways ..

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Originally Posted by OgresEatYou

He's successfully eaten 2 so far, no problems there. But I am terrified he's going to get bitten and end up with some infection or something. He won't take a pretty killed. In fact, if you drop a rat in and it just sits in the corner, he's not interested. It has to be walking for him to strike. Any tips on that?

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The younger a rat is, the less likely they are to bite. They're docile and scared. The older a rat is, the more likely it is to defend itself. (I've been bitten and concluded...)

So if you're worried about him taking too long to strike while transitioning to rats, you can just continue with younger rats.

As for refusing pre-killed and F/T... some snakes take a lot longer to switch. But you can ask for a bag of poopy dirty aspen from the rat enclosure in pet stores (obviously for free), and keeping that to re-scent a pre-killed or F/T rat before feeding, might help. Re-scent by just dropping it in the bag and rolling it around to make it freshly smelly. :s

I think your best bet for now is just continuing with live rats until he's very solid on rats, and then trying to offer pre-killed every once in awhile after rolled in dirty aspen.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Slight tangent here but whilst it's a beautifully set out vivarium I'd add some more branches and even plastic foliage , maybe even some chunks of bark from nearby woods or something ( they provide more hiding places ) . It all helps to make them feel more secure . There's a lot of wide open space there for a Royal.

Good luck anyways ..

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Just wanted to note, don't add chunks of bark from nearby woods... Bark rots quickly and possibly contains various living organisms that you don't want in your enclosure. Plastic leaves would be fine, if you wanted to.

But this point reminds me though, the more secure a ball python feels, the better their appetite is. Their sense of security can affect their appetite. It's possible that he can switch to pre-killed or F/T easier if you can alter his enclosure a bit. The half log hides are open from both ends. Some BP's only feel secure with a hide that can enclose them completely.

These kinds of completely enclosed hides with one small entrance are better for ball pythons, than the half log hide. https://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Just wanted to note, don't add chunks of bark from nearby woods... Bark rots quickly and possibly contains various living organisms that you don't want in your enclosure. Plastic leaves would be fine, if you wanted to.

But this point reminds me though, the more secure a ball python feels, the better their appetite is. Their sense of security can affect their appetite. It's possible that he can switch to pre-killed or F/T easier if you can alter his enclosure a bit. The half log hides are open from both ends. Some BP's only feel secure with a hide that can enclose them completely.

These kinds of completely enclosed hides with one small entrance are better for ball pythons, than the half log hide. https://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes

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Interesting take on things as regards woodland bark ..... I've never had any problem with rotting bark or branches for that matter so far , I naturally select dry stuff not bogwood or bark that's already rotting or decaying . I should have mentioned to give them a swill in some diluted F10 just to alleviate any concerns .

Which organisms are you referring to incidentally ?

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Interesting take on things as regards woodland bark ..... I've never had any problem with rotting bark or branches for that matter so far , I naturally select dry stuff not bogwood or bark that's already rotting or decaying . I should have mentioned to give them a swill in some diluted F10 just to alleviate any concerns .

Which organisms are you referring to incidentally ?

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I was thinking of various microorganisms, fungi diseases in bark, parasites, spider mites, and whatever other tree pests even besides just bacteria. It's not that any of it would come and kill your snake, but I'd personally avoid all that stuff to begin with.

Picking already very dry stuff and swilling in diluted in F10 probably would've been good to mention though! LOL.

Depending on your location, I would never suggest introducing local bark, branches, leaves and brick-a-brac. Here in sunny Florida, it would be an open invitation for reptile mites

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Originally Posted by Slim

Depending on your location, I would never suggest introducing local bark, branches, leaves and brick-a-brac. Here in sunny Florida, it would be an open invitation for reptile mites

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Fair comments I guess , not too much to worry about over in grotty Manchester , UK .

I guess Florida is a different ball game , we visited my son there last year and saw all the snakes and lizards etc ... Amazing place .

Thank you everyone, so much! Some great advice in here. I have another peice of driftwood that Is not as branchy and plan to clean it up and make a natural looking hide out of. I'm going to stick to the live rats make sure he's for sure switched, and then just start offering the frozen. It sounds solid, hopefully I don't have to dance for him forever haha