Switching... mice to rats!!

[bigslimrich]

My buddys bp will eat mice 3 or 4 at a time sometimes but he will not have anything to do with a rat! Even if he has not eaten in 2 or 3 weeks the snake will not show any interest in the plain white rats that look just like the mice but bigger and of corse smell different. What can he do to get his bp to switch to rats?? He tried the stinky mice bedding once to no avail, he is trying to feed the rats live to see if the snake is interested first. The rat is not to big for the snake, and he has been trying to switch the snake to rats for like 2 months. Any help will be greatly appriciated!

[hhw]

I've heard it suggested that you get a mouse and a rat of about the same size, which together make an appropriate sized meal for your bp. You let the bp eat the mouse first, and just as he's almost down swallowing ( right when there's just the tail left or so), you put the p/k or f/t rat in his mouth and his feeding instinct should be strong enough to result in him swallowing the rat as well. Once you've done this a few times, just try feeding him rats alone and he should start taking them, having become accustomed enough to their taste and smell.

Good luck!

[bigslimrich]

it worked!! he fed it a live mouse and just as the tail started going down he put the p/k rat in the snakes mouth and he took it right down! It was almost to easy...

[Marla]

Excellent! Congrats to your friend.

[lik3n]

if you have trouble again, there's this stuff called 'make a mouse' or 'mouse maker' i can't remember, we don't have it at our store. it's liquid and you just drip some on the rat and it'll smell like a mouse.

or, if you buy live rats, get the people at the pet store to put some mouse bedding in the box, thus, the rat will smell like a mouse. but since everyone here probably feeds f/t, you're best bet is the mouse maker. or if you do pre-killed and you kill it yourself, you could do the bedding idea.