From mice to rats...

[Collins2602]

Okay, first off, to clear up something...the only times I did try to "force-feed" was when I did have snakes that wouldn't eat. I have a WC Texas Rat Snake, and that is the ONLY way she will eat. I've fed my Texas Rat Snake about 4 or 5 times since we got her, and if I open her mouth and stick the pinkie in, she'll latch onto it immediately. If I just stick the pinkie in the feed box with her, it will go uneaten all day and all night. I wait for at least a month or two of them not eating before I try that method. The only reason I tried it with my pastel was because I wasn't offering mice after he refused the rats. I was offering RATS ONLY and for a couple of months he wouldn't eat. Like I said, I then tried the "force-feed" method and it still did not work, so I called the previous owner and he said "oh yeah...that one is on mice." It would have been nice if he would have told me that before, but what can I say. The guy's one brick short of a full load. So that's how I knew to then offer mice. I believe nature knows best and I would NEVER "force-feed" (I actually consider it coaxing) a snake that will eat on its own.

And we can afford the oodles of mice we were buying, but I would prefer the snakes eat a meal that is more to their size.

Now for the update...
I actually have 3 BPs that preferred mice. One is a hatchling female, one is the pastel male, and the other is a normal male. I recently began breeding rats and mice to cut down on costs and we actually had some rat fuzzies. They just opened their eyes today. So I thought I would introduce the rat fuzzies to the mice in the mouse cage for a few minutes to get the mouse small on the rats, and then see what results I could get. The normal female hatchling ate one, the normal male ate two (he's still kinda small,) and the pastel male ate THREE!! I AM SOOOOOO HAPPY! Now I can buy small rats from my supplier, stick em in a small cage with old used mouse bedding for a few minutes, then it'll be bye bye rats! YAY!! *does a happy dance*
Thanks everyone for your input! Thanks Freakie Frog for the suggestion!