Freshness of Rats and Feeding

[asmodeus]

I recently purchased F/T weaned rats for my BP in hopes to move her to a larger size prey. Previously she was eating rat pups without any problems.

For over a month she would not strike at the weaned rats and would basically refuse them. Even if I left them in the terrarium overnight she would still not eat it. She always looked interested, but nothing would happen.

Did I possibly up her prey size too quickly or is it something else? [The weaned rat is the same girth as she is.] I have purchased from the seller before and both my snakes enjoyed their rats.

Could it have been a bad batch?

Is it reasonable to contact the seller and ask about a return/replacement of the bag? (I bought 25 rats thinking it would be a smooth transition)

Any advice would be appreciated. I understand if I might just have to keep them in the freezer until my boa (who eats everything) gets bigger.

Thanks!

Sent from a happy snake owner.

[asmodeus]

Additional Info:

Last night she ate a rat pup immediately after offering it.

Sent from a happy snake owner.

[kc261]

You don't say if the rat pups are f/t also. If not, then most likely the problem is getting her used to eating f/t.

If she is used to f/t, then who knows? Some snakes are just really finicky. Some do seem to prefer prey items that are smaller than what they "should" be eating. I had one of those and boy was she a pain! Others will seem to have a preference for a certain color or gender of prey. I've also heard of some that don't seem to want to make the transition from pinkies to fuzzies, apparently because they aren't sure about eating that fur-covered thing.

One thing that does tend to help them get excited about a f/t prey item is to make sure the head is really hot. You can blast it with a hair dryer, or dip it in very hot water. Then experiment with stuff like the zombie mouse dance, or just leaving it lying in her cage. I've had some that will suddenly get really interested if you gently bump their nose with the prey item, and others that will retreat in fear when you do this. You'll have to figure out what works for her.

[LLLReptile]

You may also not be warming it up quite enough if you've recently moved up in prey item size. Make sure to squish the entire F/T rat around and feel that it's nice and warm all the way through before offering it to your snake. I usually run hot water over rats for a couple minutes to make sure they're nice and hot, and I'll hold them under a heat light for a bit as well. If you're holding it under the heat light for a minute or so, you'll also have the chance to feel if the abdomen isn't quite as warm as it should be, because the skin will cool down after the hot rinse.

Short term, try feeding her two of the smaller prey items in a sitting. She may just not quite be big enough (in her mind) for the size rats you've gotten. If she eats two of the smaller prey items in one feeding for a couple weeks in a row, try offering her the larger one again.

I doubt the batch is bad, it just sounds like she may not be quite ready for a larger prey item yet.

-Jen

[asmodeus]

Thank you very much for the replies. I have always offered her F/T; I am sorry for not specifying that in my posts.

I like the idea of two smaller sized prey items in the meantime, I will do this over the next couple weeks.

Additionally, thank you for the hints/suggestions on thawing. I will have to try heating up the head more.

Maybe I am just not heating the larger prey up enough... I will have to be a little more diligent.

Sent from a happy snake owner.

[MrLang]

Not reasonable to ask for a refund on F/T when a ball python refuses.

Glad your snake ate for you!