First Rat Isnt a Charm

[beaglegod]

Gave Plissken his first rat bout 30 min ago, thawed it out in a ziplock bag with a mouse,than I rubbed the mouse all over it, but so far all hes done is sniff. I know hw can take it down its real small for a rat. Lately hes been a real fuss pot ,he doesnt strike any more like he did his first two feedings and now he wants the lights off (pain in my a#$)

Well Ill let yall know how it gos Ive just given him his treasured privacy :?

[JLC]

LOL.....hopefully some privacy will be all you need to get him to eat that rat. It's not uncommon for them to stop the strike/wrap routine when they realize their prey is already dead.

[beaglegod]

you think I should give him the little mouse in a few hours if he refuses to eat the rat?

[JLC]

I wouldn't....I'd wait a week and give him another mouse-scented rat...so long as you're sure it's a good size. Rat or mouse though, I'd wait until the next scheduled feeding day. A stronger-than-usual appetite may help him decide the rat doesn't look too fishy after all.

[Marla]

Yup, and you can save this mouse for the next rat as well and save a dollar.

[beaglegod]

At the risk of sounding like a real pain in the neck. I just want to make sure Im not out of my mind offering a rat at this time.

The rat is no larger than 1 1/2 times the thickness of Plissken but it is around 5 1/4 inches long nose to butt and its got some weight to it. Plissken is just about 2 feet and again unless my eyes are playing tricks on me hes just about as fat as the rat.

[JLC]

Well, I don't know. You say the rat is 1 1/2 times the thickness of Plissken...then you say Plissken is just about as fat as the rat. It's hard to judge without actually being there with the snake and the rodent. But it could very well be that if the rat is larger than he's used to, he may refuse it...even if he is technically capable of eating it, he may not be hungry enough to work that hard at his meal, yet.

[Marla]

And that's pretty good sized jump. He might well be able to get it down, but I tend to have more success with making changes with my guys if i can find a way to make them gradually, which you should be able to do in this case by offering jumbo mice or rat pups for a few feedings. I suspect that a 5.25" long rat is a bit much for a 24" snake, though.

[iceman25]

Fort that rat over this way, my greedy little goober with gobble it down

[SheSkweezes]

Our ball Lucy is 9 months old, and 34 inches...she still eats mice.. we feed live and raise our own..although she has eaten gerbil and rat pups on occasion..once in a while she'll eat 2 or even 3, but 1 every 5 to 7 days is her norm...why switch to rats at all?