Won't eat rats no matter what!!!! Any ideas???

I have a female pastel ball python I bought from a snake owner who only fed her snakes f/t mice. I've had her for a few months now and I've tried everything to get her to switch to rats. I've tried housing rat pup in mice bedding, I've switched the rat pup colors, I've tried different sizes, I've cut fresh killed dead mice and put blood on rat, I've warmed f/t rat and mouse together. Ive even put mouse bedding in with her while trying to feed her a rat. She smells them then jerks away. I breed rats and I have to drive a hour to get mice. Any advice on how to change her over? She's even not eaten for 2 weeks and still shows no interest in rats.

Have you tried setting the rat to defrost in where she is all day? Have you tried braining the rat? You cut the head to expose some of the brain and it triggers a feeding response. I had to do this a few times for my male super pastel when he use to refuse meals often but he even refused some of the brained ones but its worth a try. I hear that some bps just simply won't eat rats no matter what.

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Has she eaten for you at all?
You might need to start breeding mice. :rofl::rofl:

I have a couple 1000+g snakes that have been mousers from the day I fed them their first meal.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Has she eaten for you at all?
You might need to start breeding mice. :rofl::rofl:

I have a couple 1000+g snakes that have been mousers from the day I fed them their first meal.

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Yes she has eaten mice for me just fine. I've brained them I've left them in there all day. I've tried pinkie rats live, fuzzy rats live.

Feed what works, and as for switching it can take time, I had animal taking a year before switching, I had some that never did.

How big is this female?

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Feed what works, and as for switching it can take time, I had animal taking a year before switching, I had some that never did.

How big is this female?

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She's 500 grams. I've offered her every color and size of rat. She acts interested until she knows it's a rat and has nothing to do with it. She never even strikes at a rat!

Every other ball python I have has made the switch fine and wasn't a big fuss over it, but not her.

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Originally Posted by jennmbarker

Every other ball python I have has made the switch fine and wasn't a big fuss over it, but not her.

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Not all BP are the same feed what works or don't feed if she refuse rats until she gives in which can take months, switching sometimes = tough love. Of course this means paying attention to your animal's condition.

You can also feed her what works for now and if on day you breed her make the switch after she lays, that never fails.

[QUOTE=Deborah;2439653] I had some that never did.

QUOTE]


OP.... Deb is one of the seasoned veterans on here... She knows her stuff. I've read a LOT about switching from mice to rats. My BP fortunately was easy to switch, but I read, and still read a lot about it as I hope to get more snakes, and I want to know the right answers when I hit roadblocks. As Deb stated, there are some that simply just won't eat a rat.

Rats over mice is more a convenience thing. BP's can still lead a very long healthy life eating mice, it just takes more mice per meal to meet their meal requirements. Don't let it stress you.

[QUOTE=LittleTreeGuy;2439659]

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I had some that never did.

QUOTE]


OP.... Deb is one of the seasoned veterans on here... She knows her stuff. I've read a LOT about switching from mice to rats. My BP fortunately was easy to switch, but I read, and still read a lot about it as I hope to get more snakes, and I want to know the right answers when I hit roadblocks. As Deb stated, there are some that simply just won't eat a rat.

Rats over mice is more a convenience thing. BP's can still lead a very long healthy life eating mice, it just takes more mice per meal to meet their meal requirements. Don't let it stress you.

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Hey littletreeguy, you mentioned that mice are required more per feeding. I'm currently feeding mice for my 500gram bp. As she grows older and heavier, is there a limit to the number of mice per feeding?

My mice are adults between 25 to 30g each

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I've got an albino that I've been trying to switch from mice to rats for nearly a year now. She shows zero interest in rats but takes a mouse every time its offered. I've pretty well decided that she's just not going to switch. Some just won't so I started breeding mice. Now if she'd only eat more than one at a time, that'd be great.

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[QUOTE=djstarfall;2439874]

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Originally Posted by LittleTreeGuy

Hey littletreeguy, you mentioned that mice are required more per feeding. I'm currently feeding mice for my 500gram bp. As she grows older and heavier, is there a limit to the number of mice per feeding?

My mice are adults between 25 to 30g each

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Guess I should have clarified that more... sorry. Only after a certain point, does it require more... So, I'm a believer in the 10-15% rule for prey. A snake can eat 10-15% of their body weight per meal. So, if you have a 500g bp, by that guide, you could be feeding 50-75g per meal. So you could feed two of your adult mice. You would offer one, let the snake coil and eat the mouse. once it's into the snakes belly (5"-6" pas the head), and the snake starts to look around for more, you could present the second mouse.

Now, if you are only feeding adult mice, you'll come to a point where 2 would be less than the 10-15%, but 3 might be over. In this case, I think you could offer two for a while longer, and them maybe try offering three, but if the snake takes three, you could stretch out your feedings, from maybe every 7 days to every 10 days. Once snakes reach a mature age and become adults, the weight rule kind of goes away. A lot of breeders and keepers never go past a medium rat on a regular schedule for their adult bp's.

[QUOTE=LittleTreeGuy;2439914][QUOTE=djstarfall;2439874 Once snakes reach a mature age and become adults, the weight rule kind of goes away. A lot of breeders and keepers never go past a medium rat on a regular schedule for their adult bp's.[/QUOTE]


Ah this is what I was looking for! I was thinking in the long term, if she's at 3000g, do I fed 10 mice each time haha. Seems like there's a cap or else the feedings will grow exponentially! Thanks bro


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[QUOTE=LittleTreeGuy;2439914]

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Originally Posted by djstarfall

Guess I should have clarified that more... sorry. Only after a certain point, does it require more... So, I'm a believer in the 10-15% rule for prey. A snake can eat 10-15% of their body weight per meal.

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This is only for babies and juveniles up to about 500 grams. After that one small rat per feeding is fine. If you have a larger female you can bump her up to a medium rat per feeding.

OP have you tried train feeding? If your snake is 500 grams, thaw a 25 gram mouse and a 25 gram rat together and offer the mouse first as usual. As the mouse's back end is being swallowed carefully sneak the rat's head into the snake's mouth and guide it down the hatch. You may have to support/hold the rat with the tongs until your snake's teeth get a good hold on it.
Eventually your snake should come to associate rat with food.

Note - this is NOT power feeding, though the technique is the same, as the combined weight of the feeders makes an appropriate sized meal.