switching to rats

[puff]

I tried to feed my ball a rat the other day and he wouldnt take it. He took a mouse the next day as soon as I put it in front of him. He is about two foot and has always been on mice. What can I do to try to get him to take a rat? Also should I feed more mice and how often until I can get him to take one?

[sapphire_moon]

One thing you can do is not feed him mice (don't give in!) it is hard, they can go a LONG time without food (make sure he has plenty of water though)

try braining, take a f/t rat and poke a hole so brains come out

brown bag it ;) put rat and snake in a brown bag overnight (maybe put a brick on the "closed" end or staple it *no tape*)

try brown bagging it with a brained f/t rat

try a freshly thawed rat and dip the HEAD (only) in the HOTTEST tap water possible and swing it or drag it infront of the snake.

try feeding at night with a flash light.

leave the f/t rat in over night (discard immediatly in the morning if still there)

wait him out ;) it can take some time.
if you notice him drasticly losing weight (like within one week) then something else may be wrong

rub a f/t rat against a live (probably pee'ing everywhere) mouse, or let thaw out in SOILED mouse bedding

I'm a bit rusty, so that is all I can remember right now....lol But I'm sure others will have more ideas, they've been at it longer.

Oh and let one week go after each feeding, feed attempt free (like don't attempt to feed for one week after, I usually didn't attempt to feed again for 2 wks*14days*)

and like I said, don't lose patience. lol

[puff]

I also heard if I take a small mouse and feed it to him and put the rats head up to his mouth as the mouse is going down, he will take it. But the local petstores dont have any rats. I need to know what size i need to order (I am used to seeing before I buy) and where the best place to order is. I only want to order a couple and not in a package.

[tHeGiNo]

You should approach this in a non-agressive, step by step manner so as to not stress your snake out. The first thing I would try is scenting a rat by rubbing a mouse over the feeder rat. Use a live mouse to do so. You can try offering rats the same colour as the mice you have been feeding (if there is a constant), as this may be an attributing factor as well. If he does not take the feeder right away, leave it in overnight. If it is left uneaten in the morning, discard the feeder item and try the next step in a few days.

Again, take this in steps. The suggestions by sapphire are great for snakes who are not eating at all, but switching over to rats might be a little different of a situation. The key is patience, and to not over-stress the snake in the process. If the above method doesn't work, another 'trick' can be attempted.

[Lagoon]

ok i know itbeen asked before but to make sure Rats WILL make yu bp get fatter and bigger way faster then mice right.
P.S just an update my bp still has not eaten a rat pup.

[Princess Erica]

I don't know about WAY faster, but the word is that rats have a higher percentage of body fat, which thus affects how much your snake gains. Is it a major difference? I don't know. I just got a couple rats by mistake and had no problem feeding them off. the only thing I can suggest is rubbing a mouse all over the rat and trying to "scent" the rat like the mouse so he won't know the difference... good luck!