Picky Eater Pt. 2: Rats aren't the problem...

[OmNomNom]

So I've been having a problem getting Shen to eat F/T food, which is a bit of a pain since the pet store is a bit of a hike, and I've got a big bag of dark-furred, frozen weanling rats for him in the freezer. He eats PK mice with abandon, but will turn his nose up at anything frozen no matter what I've done to it. Some people suggested the smell of rats was too different, and maybe get him a live one first to try. After much hunting, I finally found a store within an hours drive that gets live rat pups, and they were more than happy to chase me down an especially plump black rat pup.

Given his previous refusal to anything rat I wasn't sure he'd take it, but he was on the thing before it hit the bottom of his tank! And he'd had a small mouse a few days earlier, so he wasn't particularly hungry. So clearly it's not the "smell" of rats...So my question is, what now? I seek the combined voodoo and wisdom of the BP community to get this stubborn little bugger on FT food! I've already tried with FT mouse or rat:

1) Thawing in boiling hot water
2) Slicing the nose open
3) Rolling around in mouse bedding
4) Leaving with a mouse for a couple of hours
5) Smaller sized frozen rat
6) Dipped in chicken broth
7) "Faking" with a live mouse before offering FT
8) Zombie dance
9) Leaving in cage o/n
10) Letting him get good and hungry for 2-3 weeks without feeding if he refuses (don't want to go too long, he's still a growing snake!)

Are there some snakes that just won't eat FT in their lives no matter what you do? God I hope not......heh.

[kdreptiles]

I had a few like this...

My trick was to leave the rat in the warm side of the cage overnight. Didn't work 100% of the time, but now that's the only way one of mine eats them! All of my hatchlings were started on F/t this way, as well. They now strike with pleasure, though some prefer it be left for them to eat right after I leave the room, lol.

EDIT: woops, I saw that was one way you tried.. Sorry. Some people believe there are some that are live feeders only... though I've been able to convert the ones I've taken whose previous owner said that with no problem. But I used most of the methods you tried. Have you tried combining methods, like cutting the top of the head open, then leave it overnight? Cutting the nose open doesn't do much but make it bleed, unless you cut deep enough to get some cranial fluid to come out.

[Inarikins]

Have you tried braining? It looks like you're tried everything or nearly everything else. Might just be that your snake won't take F/T and that sucks but you might just have to deal with it. At least he's willing to take live rat pups so you don't have to feed tons and tons of mice as he gets bigger. If all else fails, you can always start breeding rats. I know the pet store I buy my feeders at is willing to take overflow feeders from herpers that end up with too many mice/rats for their snakes.

[OmNomNom]

Have you tried braining? It looks like you're tried everything or nearly everything else. Might just be that your snake won't take F/T and that sucks but you might just have to deal with it. At least he's willing to take live rat pups so you don't have to feed tons and tons of mice as he gets bigger. If all else fails, you can always start breeding rats. I know the pet store I buy my feeders at is willing to take overflow feeders from herpers that end up with too many mice/rats for their snakes.

What is it with the brains, anyhow? I wouldn't think that's what typically attracts them to their food......wandering mouse with it's brains hanging out...

I wish the pet store that has the live rats were a bit closer, but yeah, at least now I've got a place I can get him going on rats. I'd hate to set up a colony just for one little snake...but at what point do you just give up and conclude he's not a FT type of snake?

[Inarikins]

I'm thinking about starting a colony for my one snake not because the store I buy my feeders at (it doesn't make sense financially to buy $50 worth of F/T feeders for $100 with shipping for me right now) is too far away but because they're still trying to get the right balance of feeders into their store - their colony can't keep up and 98% of their last order of live feeders came in dead because they weren't shipped properly. It's just about impossible to get my snake the size of feeders I want her to have right now, so I'm thinking about breeding. Which is always a possibility, but you're going to have to figure something else out in the meantime to keep him going. You might just have to stick with going all that distance to get your feeders.