Mice to rats

[Vinc]

so I’ve been trying to get my BP to eat rats and she has took 2 of them but sometimes refuses , she never skips a mouse not even once , but she doesn’t like rats , I can’t find any bigger mice then adult mice , she ate a small rat last Thursday , and I want to keep her on that since it’s so much bigger and it’s more for her , she refused the rat today , I was wondering if there is any way to scent the rat without actually buying like a spray because I can’t find one anywhere . she took 2 of them but then refuses somtimes so I’m confused how to make her stick with it

[Toad37]

You could break open the thawed mouses belly and rub the rat on it. I've seen it done this way with success. But if you do that then you'll likely have to do that every time which mean buying double feeders and wasting one every time.

[rufretic]

If she's taken a rat before, the hardest part is over, you just need to stay consistent with only offering rats. Are you feeding live or f/t? If f/t, defrost the rat with a mouse together in the same water. Then when ready to feed, rub them together focusing on the head, make sure to get a good amount of the mouse sent on the rat head by rubbing face to face. If feeding live, put the rat in a bag of used mouse bedding, the dirtier the better. Shake the rat around in there with the bedding a good amount and that should get enough mouse scent on the rat. This should work almost every time but if it doesn't, do not feed the mouse. Wait a week and try the same thing again. You'll probably need to get her to take 3-4 like this and then start trying the rat without the scent of the mouse. Once she has taken a few unscented rats it should never be an issue again unless you give her a mouse again. Don't ever go back to mice or you may need to start over, some of them really prefer mice so once they get a mouse again, they will sometimes try to hold out for a mouse. Good luck.

[Vinc]

Thank I will be sure to try this , my bad she eats Ft . I will let u know if it works