Mice to Rats

A few weeks back I switched my BPs from F/T Mice to F/T Rats. One of my females(Sandra) is still refusing to take them. She's afraid of the food which seems to be a big problem. She won't even look at it and turns and go in the other direction whenever I do the "dance". She's only eaten F/T once(a mouse when I just left it in her enclosure) and has eaten live(took half an hour) once with me.


Any tips on how to get her to eat?

Good luck...!

I have a hypo female who, sadly, will more than likely never jump on the f/t band wagon that the rest of my snakes are on :( I also have a pastel female who is really sketch about prey. Both of these snakes have been problem eaters since the day I received them.

Oh well. I just keep getting live mice, raise them up so that they are plump and yummy, and give them to her. The pastel goes back and forth between accepting and/or refusing either prey. She's in a refusal mode right now so that's a drag...

You can take the rat and rub it on mice or leave it with mice, so the rat smells like a mouse and then try to feed, have you tried to feed rat pups to get them started? How big are they?

You can also try feeding her a small mouse as a starter, then try to get her to take the rat. If she is still in feeding mode the chance of refusal is less.

just a thought.

The girl refusing to eat is 350 grams and the rats(weanlings) are averaging 35 grams. The problem is she's not wanting to eat either one right now. I'm gonna try a live mouse again today or tomorrow to try and get her jump started eating again.

Do you think thawing the rat out in chicken broth with help?

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Originally Posted by BooRadleyAMG

You can also try feeding her a small mouse as a starter, then try to get her to take the rat. If she is still in feeding mode the chance of refusal is less.

just a thought.

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It's hard to get her to even look at the food. She's even afraid of the live mice. It took her a half an hour of slowly inching her way to the mouse before she actually ate it. Every time the mouse turned and looked at her, she retreated. She didn't actually go for it until the mouse was too busy getting comfortable in the corner of her enclosure to notice her. Lol. I'll try it though.

My girl took a f/t mouse only once. I tried again the next feeding day and she wanted nothing to do with it. So for now she is still on live. Altho i think its about time to try again seeing how she will be on rats soon and its easier for me to get f/t rats than live, and I dont want to take the chance of something going wrong with a live rat.

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Originally Posted by starmom

Good luck...!

I have a hypo female who, sadly, will more than likely never jump on the f/t band wagon that the rest of my snakes are on :( I also have a pastel female who is really sketch about prey. Both of these snakes have been problem eaters since the day I received them.

Oh well. I just keep getting live mice, raise them up so that they are plump and yummy, and give them to her. The pastel goes back and forth between accepting and/or refusing either prey. She's in a refusal mode right now so that's a drag...

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I wish I could raise some mice up for her, but I live in an apartment and i don't think my neighbors would like the smell of mice too much. Lol. Good luck to you too.

Is she a mature girl, she might be telling you its breeding time? Did you lower your temps or anything?

Nope, she's too small. She's only 350 grams.

If all temps, humidity, and hides are correct and the snake is in an area that has low traffic, you can rule out these as possible problems. I had a trouble feeder and finally was determined to switch to f/t like all my other snakes. If it was turned down on feeding day, I waited five days and tried again. The BP refused the first three times. On the fourht time after some hesitation sucess. Next two feedings would't eat. I started placing the mouse after unthawing and warming it under the heat light on top of the cage. Worked three times in a row. Fourth time not interested. Hoping the BP will eat the next time. Switching back and forth between f/t and live will decrease the likelyhood you sucessfully get her eating f/t. Good luck, it will happen with patience and proper husbandry.

My husbandry is perfect. Temps in the low 90s consistently on the warm side and cool side is low 80s(around 83). Humidity is in the 60s or low 70s all the time. She's on aspen. I keep them in a rack so I have one hide on the warm side and water bowl with fresh water on the cool side. My other Bps are kept in this same rack and they have had no problems with eating.

Yep- sometimes you've just got mousers!!

I get three or four mice at a time from a reptile store near me and just keep them in a little cage. The female mice don't smell; don't get the males though!! :P

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Originally Posted by starmom

Yep- sometimes you've just got mousers!!

I get three or four mice at a time from a reptile store near me and just keep them in a little cage. The female mice don't smell; don't get the males though!! :P

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How can I tell if it's a male or a female?