Is this rat too big for my BP? [pics]

[T&C Exotics]

The problem could be that rats and mice and a completely different smell so he could be avoiding the rat because it is not a mouse. You could take one f/t mouse and one small f/t rat, get him to take the mouse and while it is going down right as the tail is going into his mouth gently place the rats head in the snakes mouth. Only do this with a really small rat. I would take a medium mouse and a rat that is slightly lager than the mouse. Get him feeding like that a few times to get him to weight and then switch him to just rats.

[samthemanz3n]

Right now anything in that ball python would help.

[Parysa]

Poor guy. That looks bigger than what I'd try with one that thin, but I'm still pretty new, so take it with a grain of salt.

[kippers]

Yeah its probably 3x what he's used to. I'm stopping by another shop as we speak to get him something. Poor thing.

[kippers]

Just as an update I got mice adults from Petco (much smaller than the "small rat" standard from CJs and he is in fact eating it. Thank goodness. So I'm assuming the other rats are 1) too big 2) not fresh /the CJs ones had stiff tails and the Petco ones have soft tails that give./ or 3) not thawed properly? 4) other

[kippers]

I will be feeding him a second shortly, as I did monday when he ate two.

[MootWorm]

Just wanna chime in and say I've never had a rat with a stiff tail after thawing. Seems really strange...


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[kippers]

This is what I'm thinking, and it was the same way with all five that I bought.
The rats had some kind of dirt or droppings in their fur and had stiff tails. I'm hoping that it wasn't bad quality that is deterring my baby from eating.
I am worried because shipping in the proper size rodent is expensive and risky as I'm not quite sure what he needs/ will be needing right yet until I have his feeding habits established and put some meat on his bones. CJ's has good reviews and the rodents I bought just a few days prior were not stiff or dirty in any way. It's confusing and I'd love to hear what you have to share.

btw: he's onto mouse number two if anyones following. I figure the more information available the better advice/ care he'll receive.

[T&C Exotics]

For his feeding habits he had most likely been fed mice his whole life so that is what he knows as food. Not all rodents smell the same so if all they ever smell as food is a mouse that is all they are going to eat. Just like with humans here in the states a steak cooking is known to be food but something from say the middle east cooking may not smell like food to us so we do not get hungry from it. A snake has to recognize the prey item as food before it will try to eat it. You can do as I said after the snake is healthy with some weight to switch it to rats which have more meat on them and are healthier IMO for the snake. There could be nothing at all wrong with the rats except that they are not mice... Also you could get some mice and keep them in a tank and get a f/t rat thaw it out rub it in the mouse bedding and then try to feed it to the snake.

[treeboa]

After seeing the lump the mouse left, I'd say a small rat is too large for him. If you try rats, again I'd try large pups or weaned. For now, I'd stick with the mice until he gains some weight.