From live mice to f/t rats

[ivanb]

Hi,

First post in this forum, although I've been browsing it for a while.

I have one question to add to the thousands of questions that must have been asked on how to switch a snake's feeding habit.
But hopefully this is going to be a slightly different question :p

So, I recently got a female that has been eating live mice with her previous owner. With time, I'd like to switch her to f/t rats. I have switched from f/t mice to f/t rats successfully on other animals, but this is a "double switch", and I wonder if someone has any advice on the best strategy.

The options I have in mind are:
A) Switch from live to frozen mice first. Then switch from frozen mice to frozen rats

B) switch from live mice to live rats first, and then go from there to f/t rats.

C) Try to do it in one go, and get her to switch directly from live mice to f/t rats.

Anyone has had success with that kind of switch? Which strategy do you think would work best?

Thanks!

[ROACH]

I'd say choice "C". She will eat it if shes hungry. May take her awhile, but im sure it will work. Good luck which ever choice you choose.
Oh and welcome to the forum!

[Crazymonkee]

Do you know the weight of
the snake?
All snakes will not eat if they're hungry.
That's a very generalized statement

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[Neal]

Yea, snakes can and have starved themselves before. So that's a very broad statement. I got a hatchling that had only had one meal and it was a mouse hopper, then I offered it a rat pinkie the next day after I got it, it refused, but the spider I got with the black pastel ate while in shed the day after I got it. Then the next week my hatchling ate the f/t rat pink. I'd just try it in one go, just for size advice though how big is your BP?

[ROACH]

Do you know the weight of
the snake?
All snakes will not eat if they're hungry.
That's a very generalized statement

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So what would make them not eat if they are hungry...other than being sick or any other health problems?

[Neal]

So what would make them not eat if they are hungry...other than being sick or any other health problems?

For reasons we probably don't understand. The same reason they go off feed for months. You don't think they're hungry? They do it many reasons.

[Crazymonkee]

Umm I don't know ask my hatchling that wouldn't eat f/t for 2 months, nothing changed husbandry wise, but now eats every 5 days without hesitation as soon as I got her live

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[ROACH]

Umm I don't know ask my hatchling that wouldn't eat f/t for 2 months, nothing changed husbandry wise, but now eats every 5 days without hesitation as soon as I got her live

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So do you think your hatchling would have eaten sooner if you offered it Live from the start? Or did you try that and it refused that also? Ive never fed F/T or had one that was on them, so Im just wandering. From what Ive read on this forum, trying to switch from Live to F/T can be a hassle and sometims they may go without for some time. But some have said, "soon enough they will eat".

[Crazymonkee]

She definitely would have eaten sooner, I went live because she started striking every time I went into her enclosure and was always searching at night. After she started eating she went right back to her docile self
She has never refused a live meal so far.

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[ROACH]

For reasons we probably don't understand. The same reason they go off feed for months. You don't think they're hungry? They do it many reasons.

Neal, I never said they were not hungry. I said "So what would make them not eat if they are hungry". I of course dont know if they are hungry or not, but I offer anyways. If they dont eat I try again the next week. I of course have had some go without for a few months, but started eating again.