Hi Brad... yep, I'm aware of that technique, and will likely use something similar to try and switch Dixie over to rats. Part of the problem was simply not knowing what it was she WOULD eat. Now that I know, that's one less thing to have to try and figure out.

I guess the mistake I made initially is assuming that, from her size, she'd already been switched over to rats. When she showed no interest in rats, I then had to try and figure out if she was simply "off her feed", or whether rats didn't register as food. I was just about ready to try her on a gerbil instead, as I had tried her on a F/T mouse before. I fear the freezing process may sometimes alter the smell of the prey, which may account for her showing no interest in the mouse before.

Lesson learned is get SPECIFIC information on what the snake has been eating and work from there. Just because she's big enough that most mice barely rate an appetizer for her doesn't mean that wasn't the staple of her diet. The mouse she took last night was small enough that it barely stretched her neck on the way down, but at least she ate it. The way she kept watching the far corner of her enclosure, I think she might have been hoping for another...