Feeding Rats

[Rije682]

Hi,
A couple weeks ago I purchased an approx. 1600g het clown female. The day she came in she ate an adult mouse but the mouse seemed tiny compared to her so I left her alone for a week to calm down and get used to her new home and tried to feed her a small rat. She wasn't interested at all. Should I give her some more time and try again some other time or should I just give up and go back to mice until my ASF's are ready? This is also the first time I try to feed a rat so any info would be helpful. Thanks everyone,

[Kaorte]

Are you feeding f/t or live?

With such a big snake, you can get away with waiting another week. But if you are going to have ASFs soon, I would stick to what she will eat. You will probably have to geed her 3-4 mice though which can be a bit time consuming.

[iCandiBallPythons]

Don't try to switch the food around too much, Try a medium rat. If she doesnt eat then wait another week and try again. One mouse is way to small of a meal for a bp that size.

[Rije682]

We've always fed live and with the ASF's breeding like crazy we'll probably keep it like that, I knew that the mouse was too small but I was out of town and my boyfriend fed her the first time. When I got back and saw how big she was I knew she'd need something bigger. The rat was the smallest the store had but she didnt like him at all, I hope she eats him the next time cause I really dont want a pet rat.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Rub mouse pee into the rat's fur before you offer it to her. This sounds gross, but it frequently works.

[Boanerges]

What was she eating when she was with the person you got her from?

[Rije682]

I wrote to him and asked but I havent heard back yet. Whatever she was eating it doesnt look like she ever skipped a meal, maybe she just needs to settle for a little while longer.