Quote Originally Posted by Kibbleswhites View Post
I suggested the rat pup (cats have kittens, cows have calves, and rats have PUPS) weighed in appropriately because OP has tried mice and a rat pup with its eyes closed will not eat the snake making it safe to leave in there for two days. I would not leave any rodent with its eyes open in with a refusing reptile for more than a couple hours, weaned or not. Eyes open = teeth=ready to eat a live snake if need be to stay alive. No need to bash me, I have raised hundreds of hatchlings and never ever have had to feed mice. Not one single time. I do not like mice and I have never had a hatchling not thrive just fine on rats from the get go. Certainly worth a try! Done.
Your intentions were good, just some confusion/misunderstanding on the lingo. When ordering or buying rats, a rat "pup" is around 30g-40g, and obviously would be way too large for this scenario. The rat you are describing would be a rat "pinky" (still all pink, no open eyes, etc....)

If started on rats from the beginning, there is no question a snake would do just fine. I think the statements above were just going back to the fact that THIS animal was started on mice, so it knows their scent and knows to associate that food. They can and do react to mice and rats differently. Yes, if it would take a rat that is fine, but I think the suggestions were made with mice to avoid any changes in what little this snake already knows.