Switching to rats

[stupidcracker00]

Ok, I will definitely try that next time! Should I feed her the mice this week so she doesnt starve? Or would that make it harder for her to take the rats next week?

[stupidcracker00]

oh and I am currently feeding F/T mice and attempting to feed her F/T small rats. Next time ill try to feed her F/T rat pups. If she takes the rat, how many times do I need to put mouse bedding in the cage before I feed her?

[rabernet]

She's not going to starve in one week. Try the following week without the mouse bedding. If she doesn't take - wait another week and do the mouse bedding the following week. Repeat until she consistently starts taking rats.

If she's good weight - you can also try the "tough love" approach and just stop offering mice.

[stupidcracker00]

It's been 3 weeks since she's ate...

[stupidcracker00]

Ok, I just offered her a mouse last night. She didn't even take IT! I've heard some bp's stop eating during the winter, but would a 6 month old bp do that??

[MitsuMike]

Yep.
Just relax and do the following:
Keep temps up
Keep weekly weights on her (you only need to worry when the weight starts dropping)
Keep offering rats, giving in won't get it done.

[stupidcracker00]

Yep.
Just relax and do the following:
Keep temps up
Keep weekly weights on her (you only need to worry when the weight starts dropping)
Keep offering rats, giving in won't get it done.

how often should I offer her a rat? every day? or once a week?

[rabernet]

how often should I offer her a rat? every day? or once a week?

Once a week. Offering every day will put her more off feed.

[Alexandra V]

Something that always works for me is thawing one rat with two mice in a plastic bag, slowly, because it will often make the mice bleed from the nose/mouth, and then rub the mouse blood on the rat. Another trick, after you've thawed the mice and rat, is using a blowdryer, pre-scent with a thawed mouse very close to the cage. This drives them nuts, and by the time they realize that it's a rat you're giving them, it's generally already in their mouth, and they realize that they can eat it.

[stupidcracker00]

Ok thank u guys (and gals) for all the input! I tried a couple of those techniques last night with no success... She wasnt even interested in the mouse i put on top of her cage to get her pumped up for food. So my conclusion is, I think she's stopped eating for the winter. Is it normal for juveniles to go off feed for the winter? Cuz I thought that was only for females who are breeding... I'm really curious/nervous to why she is not eating right now so as much info as possible would be greatly appreciated!