Mice to rats switch

[OTorresUSMC]

Seeking advice. One of my BPs won't take rats and im looking for suggestions on how to facilitate a switch. He was on mice at the pet store i got him at, and i kept with mice at first but now that hes bigger and im breeding rats i wanted to get him switched. At first i thought he was just off feed but soon as i put a mouse in there he latched right on and took 3 that feeding. Is there any hope or am i stuck with one ball on mice??

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

Depending on the age and size it could take a while, months sometimes.

If you have some mice bedding use that and rub it on the rat.

[dboeren]

Scenting is the first thing I'd try, rubbing mouse scent on the rat whether directly from the mouse or using bedding.

If that doesn't work I've heard some people put the snake and the rat together in a bag for a while as another method. You can look online and probably find more ideas but after a while they start sounding like superstitious "home remedies". Hopefully just the scenting and some patience will do the job.

Just remember that most snakes start on mice when they are babies so most of them have to go through the switch to rats eventually as they grow into larger prey, it's a common thing.

[Booper]

On the same vein as Deborah, if you freeze fresh kill or f/t try rubbing a mouse on a rat to mask the smell. I don't think it would work so well with live, but you can always try. I've also heard that if you just don't offer your ball anything but they will eventually take a rat.