Who is the train feeding pro here??

So far I have never succeed. Attempted like 3 times. Two times BP shy away. Another time I inserted but it wasn't firm enough so it fell. (Doing this cuz I'm trying to convert from mice to rat)

Anyone know if I did it one time is that a instant convert or I have to make several successful attempts ?

I have like 2 bags of F/T rats and 1 bag of mice. Mice bag is like half way gone. For rat is like 1/3 gone but its not like cuz he ate it I had to throw it away cuz I thawed it out tried it didn't work. Such a waste :(

I did the scented method too, rubbed one mouse and one rat together didn't work.

A lot of people said rub the bedding but I'm not able to do that cuz I feed my snake at night time and the pet store around me that actually have rat or mice colony is like one. They close at super early. I'm scared like if did I purchased one and just let it wait until feeding time the smell of it is gonna be gone.

But I do have a dwarf hamster... Anyone tried to rub it against hamster's bedding and convert a mouser to rat ?? idk if that makes any sense like hamster and rat what... But I'm just wanna ask that too...

Anyway !! So I just wanna get some legit advice on train feeding like how to do it the most proper way so the snake doesn't get scared.... And for those who doesn't know what this is, is basically feed your snake an undersize prey and insert another prey that you actually wanted him to eat into his mouth and hopefully he would keep swallowing it.

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Originally Posted by 6037201

A lot of people said rub the bedding but I'm not able to do that cuz I feed my snake at night time and the pet store around me that actually have rat or mice colony is like one. They close at super early. I'm scared like if did I purchased one and just let it wait until feeding time the smell of it is gonna be gone

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The scent won't be gone. When I had to convert, I brought home a bag of dirty mice bedding from the store, and used the same bag to scent rats for months.

I also heard it's easier to convert to smaller rats first. (Like if your snake is eating jumbo mice, you can first offer small weaned rats). When the rat is too big right away, it seems to scare some ball pythons.

I've switched many snakes from mice to rats and have never needed to do this.

What I do is thaw in hot water the mice and rats together. This mixes the scents and I've had great success in switching snakes in just a couple meals. I would feed the mouse first and then the rat.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

The scent won't be gone. When I had to convert, I brought home a bag of dirty mice bedding from the store, and used the same bag to scent rats for months.

I also heard it's easier to convert to smaller rats first. (Like if your snake is eating jumbo mice, you can first offer small weaned rats). When the rat is too big right away, it seems to scare some ball pythons.

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So you used the same bag to scent rats how did that work out for you ??

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Originally Posted by 6037201

So you used the same bag to scent rats how did that work out for you ??

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Well, it worked just fine of course! LOL. The smell is mice is very strong. My first snake was a picky one with converting, and I needed to scent it this way for a few months before he would take rats unscented.

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Originally Posted by KMG

I've switched many snakes from mice to rats and have never needed to do this.

What I do is thaw in hot water the mice and rats together. This mixes the scents and I've had great success in switching snakes in just a couple meals. I would feed the mouse first and then the rat.

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Hot water you mean like boiled water or the water from the sink?

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Originally Posted by 6037201

Hot water you mean like boiled water or the water from the sink?

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Not boiled. Just hot from the tap. Using boiling water would cook the feeders and cause your snake problems trying to digest them.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Not boiled. Just hot from the tap. Using boiling water would cook the feeders and cause your snake problems trying to digest them.

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but what about chloride and stuff ??

Just hot enough that you can still put your fingers in without burning yourself. If it is hot enough to burn you, it's too hot.

Tap water is totally fine, unless your tap in your area is really bad or something. Reptiles aren't fish.

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Originally Posted by 6037201

but what about chloride and stuff ??

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Mine drink the same water that I do. I don't have any worries.

One time is certainly not a "conversion". Most (I think) would agree to say an animal is converted over, they need to take a prey item 5-10 times.

I have had several problem eaters in the past and I have employed a variety of tricks:

(1) One is as you mention, giving them a desirable prey item (in your case a mouse), then as they get close to swallowing it, place the rats head just inside the snake's open mouth and hold it there. They will grab on and swallow it. I have pretty much never had this method fail. However, it does not necessarily help transition the snake from one prey species to another. Sometimes it works, sometimes you will have to continuously do it.

(2) As far as "scenting", I have found rubbing on prey animal on another does not usually work at the beginning. A more effective way is to cut off a piece of the desirable prey species and place it over the head of the feeder. For example, in lizard-eating species, I would place a section of anole skin over the nose of the mouse and this would trigger a feeding response. Blood scenting can also work.

After doing this 3-4 times, lighter scenting, such as simply rubbing the desirable prey item on the feeder item usually starts to work as they transition over. Eventually, they will take the new feeder item.

(3) The other thing you can do, which often works with ball pythons in particular, is to place the F/T feeder item underneath/inside the warm hide. This serves the dual purpose of keeping the feeder item warm and providing extra security for feeding. I actually have one ball python that will exclusively eat this way.