burm won't eat rats!

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I am having trouble feeding my female albino burm rats. She will eat mice with no problems. I feed her two large mice a week. I have tried numerous times feeding her rats. I waited around two months since last time before offering a rat. I fed her a mouse yesterday and tried to trail with a small rat. She just smelled and looked at it, but did not seem interested. I even tried knocking out the rat, but still nothing. Here's a pic of her...what can be wrong?

[cristine]

I have the rats head bashed in and put it into the cage. I leave my Hercules alone so it is quiet. Does she have a bowl of water for after her meal?

[start2finish01]

yes the water is avaliable. I will try that. I am going to wait until after she is done shedding and hungry. I will put one in there like that and leave her alone for awile and hopefully it works...

[jkitchens1980]

Checkout http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareCarpet.html...... I know that it is a caresheet for carpets but there are alot of good ways to get any snake to take rats. Goodluck and lets us know how it goes...........

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will do...thanks

[gonesnakee]

Problem being it was started on mice & wants to continue on mice. Burms should be started on rats from day one & should never even be shown a mouse. Its too late for that now so start reading the python forums etc. for switching tricks. Sounds like its being getting fed live mice as well? which will make it harder to switch over to Rats. Also needs larger meals. I feed my Corns 2-3 adult mice weekly. A Burm should grow 6-8 ft in its first year & should be fed more than 2 mice at a time. People fed baby BPs adult mice. My 1 female Carpet who won't take rats for me eats 12 jumbo mice at a time, the approx. equavilent to 2 jumbo rats. Big snakes require big meals. Mark
P.S. ever try rabbits? Might be something to consider as even rats will become very small & many will be required per meal as the Burm reaches a mature size. You could try with live pinkie/fuzzie ones to begin with & go from there. Save you from trying to switch from Rats to rabbits later, just skip the rats altogether.

[start2finish01]

yeah... the reptile shop that I got her from as a baby must have started her on mice, so that's why it's so difficult to change to rats. That is one thing to consider, about the rabbits. thanks

[djcoreyd]

Not sure why you have that problem with burms, they usually are not fussy eaters (on acount they grow so big and fast) You can try spliting the head open on the rat so the brain is exposed, if that doesn't work stop feeding her for a couple of weeks and only offer rats, she'll come around. My burms will eat anything you put in front of them mice, rats, gunie pigs, rabbits, chickens etc....Email me at afterdarkmusic@hotmail.com I have more info on burm's exspecially now, with season change...prevention tips so your burm doesn't get RI(respitory infection) kinda like lung cancer but for large snake's..... Take care of your gentle giant. Corey

[burmese maniac]

Try taking the mouse and rubbing the sent of the mouse on to the rat. rub it a good 30 sec. to make sur the rat really smells like the mouse. Another trick would be when your burm is eating the mouse, just before she finishes and the burms mouth is still open, gently sneak in a rat. good luck!!!!!!

[start2finish01]

I saw the product "mouse maker" that is made by T REX, but I am not sure if it will work. I might try that. I will wait until my burm is really hungry and rub the scent on the rat and hope for the best.

[djcoreyd]

Hey talk to a friend of mine who had a similar problem with three of her Berm's. Blend up mice pinkies in the blender, suck it up with a siryng and inject it in the nasal cavity, and mouth of the rat. Sounds a little Fear Factor'ish but might work. Good Luck!

[start2finish01]

not a bad Idea, I might have to try that

[start2finish01]

I finally got my female burm to eat a rat using a pre killed and scented rat using mouse maker :bounce:

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She ate a live rat today unscented! :grab:

[snakemanjohnny]

I have raised berms for 11 years now and every albino i have had has the same problem. Not wanting to change from mice to rats and from rats to rabbits. Albinos are hard headed and only want one thing. I talked to the vet when mine were doing like yours and i was told to give them about 1 mouse every 2 weeks as that keed their system going but they will still be hungry. When she finds out thats all she is going to get she will start eating rats. Once you get her to eating them dont give her any more mice or you will have to start the same thing over again.Dont think she will starve as they can go almost a year without eating. How old and how big is she? Make sure she has plenty of warter as that is more importent than the food

[snakemanjohnny]

I have had the same trouble with my brems. Try giving her 1 mouse about every two weeks. When she gets the idea that is all she is going to get she will start eating rats as one mouse every two weeks wont get her full. How old and how big is she?
My vet is the one that told me that trick

[jkitchens1980]

She ate a live rat today unscented! :grab:

Great!!! I figured she'd come around for ya......goodluck!

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Im glad she did, thanks.