switching to rats from mice!

I have a two year old ball (Male). That is currently eating mice. I want switch him to rats. Can any one give me any idea's on how to this?
Thank you for your time.

is there a particular reason to switch him now after 2 yrs. of mice? if you just want to, i would scent the rat with mice bedding or fur and each week keep reducing until it's all rat.


vaughn

I Just wanted to bulk him up a little bit. I heard that rats do this to them. I have five others that I want to bulk also. I have an Albino(to a female het albino that I have) that I want to breed some day.
Thanks

The switch shouldn't be all that hard. I have switched 4 mousers in the last month with no problem. I assume you are feeding PK or FT (I could be wrong though). If so, offer a small PK/FT rat. Make sure it is very warm. I dont think you'll have an issue..Let us know!

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Originally Posted by marichi20

I Just wanted to bulk him up a little bit.

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Why would you want to "bulk" him up? Is he not maintaining weight on mice?

-adam

i have same problem i can't switch to rats. i have one 5 month old ball and he eating mice like a burmese:P but i gave him seprate rat sized as mice and he doesn't want to eat . the rat sleep near the snake like his mother!!!!! i offered him live rat.

I'm no expert here folks but if the snakes are growing well on mice and not wanting to take rats, why mess with what is working?

We did switch over recently (and it went fine all around) but it wasn't because the snakes weren't doing fine on mice just with 5 to feed every week, rats were a bit more convenient and a little faster to feed rather than multiple mice. If any of them had turned their noses up at the rats though I'd have been quite happy to keep them eating consistently and happily on mice. Just me personally though.

Just food for thought. Our 7 month old was 17 inches end of May, she now a very solid, girthy 30 inches or slightly more. That's 13 plus inches of growth and a goodly amount of girth in 4 months (she weighs just over a pound).....on mice (she just switched to rats). I can't complain about that kind of growth myself.


~~Jo~~

finaly my bp ate today frozen rat. i heat the rat and i put the rat on my snake body and he start search for the head without killing the rat(coil) . and he ate.
very gentle snake. i think is bored

switching from mice 2 rats was i think the best thing ive ever done 4 my snake he took the switch no problem now i keep frozen rats in my freezer wraped in tin foil so my mom cant see them

when i defrost my rats the rat is full of water. i heat the rat to be same as live and then i put it on my snake. did you do the same? i saw many pictures that many people give the rat/chick/mice without heating them. is that possible to do with BP?

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Originally Posted by Ozone

when i defrost my rats the rat is full of water. i heat the rat to be same as live and then i put it on my snake. did you do the same? i saw many pictures that many people give the rat/chick/mice without heating them. is that possible to do with BP?

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Are you saying they give them to the snakes still frozen? That is way wrong. The prey item needs to be fully defrosted before being fed.

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Originally Posted by Ozone

when i defrost my rats the rat is full of water. i heat the rat to be same as live and then i put it on my snake. did you do the same? i saw many pictures that many people give the rat/chick/mice without heating them. is that possible to do with BP?

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You should ALWAYS make sure the rodent is defrosted completely. If the rodent is not completely defrosted, it can cause health problems and/or death for your snakes. If your rats are getting full of water, you should try putting them in a plastic bag before you defrost. It should keep them dry.

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

You should ALWAYS make sure the rodent is defrosted completely. If the rodent is not completely defrosted, it can cause health problems and/or death for your snakes. If your rats are getting full of water, you should try putting them in a plastic bag before you defrost. It should keep them dry.

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I would doubt they are getting FULL of water. I defrost mine by soaking in water and leave them wet to provide the snake with extra hydration. I do drain a lot of the water off before I feed and I have never seen water come out of the mouth.

sorry for the mistake full of water = wet :P
yew i saw many people feeding wet rodents. if you don't warm the rat before you give it to the snake may refused it? i always heat the rat with hair heat machine:)

but why my ball python is not coil the rat and she stared eating without killing the rat(frozen) he felt that is already dead?

Always make sure the rodent is warm.

The reaction when feeding f/t all depends on the ball python. When I was feeding F/t, i would set the mouse in the enclosure and my male bp would just eat it (no attack, no coil)...he would just slither over and eat. As long as your bp is eating, I would not worry about it.

The only problem you may encounter with the rodent being wet, is that a wet rodent does not smell as much as a dry rodent....so your snakes feeding responce may be reduced. But since you are using a hair dryer, you rodent should be nice and dry :)

hehe thanks for the help

If you want to switch it may sound silly but why not just try a rat before wondering if he will take it.
There are planty of methods to encourage him if he won't take it but I'd bet he will just go for it straight off.

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Originally Posted by Ozone

sorry for the mistake full of water = wet :P
yew i saw many people feeding wet rodents. if you don't warm the rat before you give it to the snake may refused it? i always heat the rat with hair heat machine:)

but why my ball python is not coil the rat and she stared eating without killing the rat(frozen) he felt that is already dead?

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ahhh..no problem! Yeah, I always feed them wet. The snakes dont seem to mind...They might very well refuse a rat that isnt warmed. They sense the heat signature either from live prey or from a warmed up dead food item. I have some that could care less though..

When I feed Salina f/t mice, I warm them in a bag. I keep all my mice separate in thier own zip loc bags. On feeding day I toss one in the sink full of hot water, and come back and get it in 20 -30 min. I pull the dry mouse out of the bag with tongs and dangle it in front of her. I have never had a mouse explode or even seen blood using this process. The same might work for rats, I would just leave them on the sink a little longer.