Takes nice but rejects rats?

[Szhang]

Hey guys,

My BP is currently 9 months old. I've been feeding him an adult mouse and a hopper until now. I know that's little, but I had so many mice left and I didn't want to waste it. So instead of feeding him every week, I fed him every 5 days.

Just yesterday, I finally went to the reptile expo and purchased weaned rats. Today is feeding day and he refused the take the rat. It was nice and warm with a little bit of blood.

Any tips on how I can get him to eat it?

I just purchased 25 of them and I really don't wanna waste it ...

[monks98]

Wasting rodents is part of BP life unfortunately. There are a bunch of ways to get them to eat. We have 22 and here are some of the things we do/have done to get them to eat.

-we have 3 who won't eat a rat unless it's so hot it's almost ready to explode
-we have some that won't strike and take it from tongs. We need to leave it in the tub overnight
-some will not strike in light. Use a red bulb to see what you are doing
-scent your rat with mice or dirty mouse bedding (pet stores will give that stuff away)
-offer farther apart. Let the snake sit 2 weeks before offering again
-be persistent

All that being said we have 1 BP who no matter what we do he won't eat rats. And it's costly to keep him fed on mice!

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[redshepherd]

You need to scent your rats with the smell of mice, since they smell different to snakes.

Either defrost a rat and a mouse together in the same bag, or get dirty mouse bedding from a pet store and roll the thawed rat around in it for a minute before offering.

[redshepherd]

All that being said we have 1 BP who no matter what we do he won't eat rats. And it's costly to keep him fed on mice!

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I just saw this part- if you want to, a trick is to get an undersized mouse (hopper, fuzzy, whatever size your bp will still be hungry) and feed that first. And then 5 minutes after he finishes swallowing, to offer a similar sized scented rat (fuzzy, pup or small weaned, depending). And hopefully the BP thinks it is another mouse while still in feeding mode and eats it.

[monks98]

Tried that he takes the rat then immediately dumps it.

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[Szhang]

Thanks guys! Will try this next week and I'm praying it'll work!

[hollowlaughter]

I've heard direct chasing the rat works for some, aka when the snake still has its gob open working down the mouse, just guide the rat's head into its mouth, just make sure the combined prey size is adequate.

Braining a mouse and smearing that on a rat can help too. That's what I do when needed.

[Sunnieskys]

I agree with mouse bedding. Especially from the male mice. I do this at work. And yes we give it to you if you need it!

[Szhang]

I agree with mouse bedding. Especially from the male mice. I do this at work. And yes we give it to you if you need it!

Would all pet stores give it away? Like petco or petsmart? I tried calling a representative and they were like, we don't hold this service...

Also, WOULD IT BE FREE? I'm not sure if i wanna buy dirty mice bedding

[Szhang]

Braining a mouse and smearing that on a rat can help too. That's what I do when needed.

Does that mean to cut open the head and just wipe it over the rat?