Switching from live mice to frozen thawed rats?

[Bogertophis]

Hey guys, I just had a question. I’m pretty interested in picking up a specific young snake, however, it’s currently being fed live mice. Was wondering, if my end goal is to feed FT rats, how should I ‘prep’ accordingly? Some of the things I’ve been thinking about were trying to visit Petco/pet smart and ask if I could have a bit of the bedding for their mice, not touching them/interacting them for over a week, and then scenting with a FT mouse. I know there’s a chance that it’ll just grab the FT rat right off the bat, but I’d rather be safe than sorry and have some back up plans.


Has anyone had to switch from live mice to FT rats and what was your experience with it?

That's what I'd do- put the rat in some well-used (dirty-smelly) mouse bedding first, to transfer the scent. A f/t mouse won't have much scent- use the bedding!

It's a bigger jump going from live mouse to f/t rat also- your best bet would be a live baby rat (small & eyes closed!) first, with the mouse scent transferred right before offering the meal.

Switch to f/t rats only after one or more live baby rats are easily taken (use your judgement on that), as it's just hard to convince some snakes using tongs to jiggle the prey just right- & you need the snake to accept the different flavor. Rats don't smell or taste* the same as mice- not at all. (*so they tell me )

If you try just a f/t rat first, with mouse scent, you also need to warm it as suggested- like w/ hairdryer, to lifelike warmth, especially on the head.