Reverse Scenting?

[lady_bug87]

I am planning on switching my GTP over to rats in the next month or so and I wonder if scenting her hopper meals with rat will make the transition easier?

I was supposed to feed her last night but never got around to it so tonight I am going to rub her hopper with one of the rats I have in my freezer she doesnt eat during the day or I would try now I need to feed my BP tonight anyways so when I warm up his rat I will throw her mouse in the same water and then rub the rat all over the hopper and see if she takes it

Has anyone ever tried this? I know people scent the rat with mouse but how bout the other way around?

[shaunyboy]

when crossing carpets over from mice to rats i've found the best way to scent is.....

to heat a frozen thawed mouse fuzzy and burst it open,then smear the blood ansd guts over a heated rat

giving the head an extra heat,if that fails i brain the scented rat

cheers shaun

[lady_bug87]

yea that was that plan but I havent got any rat pinks right now so I wanted to use this as an experiment

[shaunyboy]

its by far the most gross thing i've had to do,but it works great

let us know how it goes

cheers shaun

[ZARADOZIA]

....when I warm up his rat I will throw her mouse in the same water and then rub the rat all over the hopper and see if she takes it

Has anyone ever tried this? I know people scent the rat with mouse but how bout the other way around?


I am doing this now with Sasha. First time didn't work, but the second time it did. ...


Yesterday I placed the rat and the mouse in a bowl with hot tap (faucet) water for 20 minutes, then replaced that water with fresh hot water, repeated this every 20 minutes for 1.5 hours. My tap water is 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It cools at the rate of .5 degrees per minute if it's in a plastic bowl and 1 degree per 5 min in a ceramic bowl.

Just before I took the rat & mouse to Sasha, I held the rat under running hot water for about 2 minutes to help rinse off some of its odor. I have no idea if this made a difference or not, it is just what I did. I even put gloves on incase I was going to have to scent the rat with the mouse. (I have a deep seeded aversion to touching raw/dead meat of any kind with my bare hands. *Except steak- weird I know)

Sasha didn't even bother smelling them like she did during the last feeding. She was in full-blown "feed me NOW B*" mode.

Hopefully this will help you. The first time I attempted to switch her, she refused to eat for 7 months. But I do not know the exact reasons why she refused to eat. It could have been any number of reasons and/or all combined.

P.S. She also ate the mouse. I purchased both medium and large rats. Medium to start with for the conversion and then she will go to large after she is switched 100%. **Thanks Wayne for the advice:freakedout:
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/python-regius/88891-ee-ggads-rats-stink-switching-mice-rats-4.html

[lady_bug87]

Thanks!! I think I may give it a try regardless if it helps or not it cant hurt

[lady_bug87]

well switching her (?) over to rats is going to be harder than I originally thought she (?) wouldnt take the rat pink just thawed, scented by rubbing it against the mouse, or covered in mouse guts

so I caved and gave her the mouse and whaddaya know she is gulping it down I know by caving I am just setting myself back but this is going to be the ONE and only time I cave

I am about to enter into a battle of wits with her and tonight I just wasnt having it seeing as how I am still sickly

you win THIS round.. little bugger

[shaunyboy]

well switching her (?) over to rats is going to be harder than I originally thought she (?) wouldnt take the rat pink just thawed, scented by rubbing it against the mouse, or covered in mouse guts

so I caved and gave her the mouse and whaddaya know she is gulping it down I know by caving I am just setting myself back but this is going to be the ONE and only time I cave

I am about to enter into a battle of wits with her and tonight I just wasnt having it seeing as how I am still sickly

you win THIS round.. little bugger

imo the more you give in,the more stubborn she'll be to switch over

perciverance and patients will win her over,my female diamond took 3 to 4 months to take unscented rats

i wish you all the best in getting her switched over

cheers shaun

[red ink]

well switching her (?) over to rats is going to be harder than I originally thought she (?) wouldnt take the rat pink just thawed, scented by rubbing it against the mouse, or covered in mouse guts

so I caved and gave her the mouse and whaddaya know she is gulping it down I know by caving I am just setting myself back but this is going to be the ONE and only time I cave

I am about to enter into a battle of wits with her and tonight I just wasnt having it seeing as how I am still sickly

you win THIS round.. little bugger

Go to your local pet shop... collect all the downy feathers at the bottom of their cages (ask them first).

Take your mouse and rat (frozen) and place them in a sandwich bag, now thaw them out together in hot tap water.

Once the rat has been thawed out get a sharp knife, spit it's skull open till some of the juices come out (braining).... then insert some of the downy feathers in the incision. Does'nt have to have the whole thing in there just enough so it holds.

Feed that when it's in "ambush" mode by adangling it below with a pair of tongs.

[lady_bug87]

Thanks Shaun

Im worried that she is too young to be off food for that long I will keep trying and not give in and hope she cooperates she is stubborn and would take the rat and then drop it then strike and i or my husband tried to pick it up

[lady_bug87]

Go to your local pet shop... collect all the downy feathers at the bottom of their cages (ask them first).

Take your mouse and rat (frozen) and place them in a sandwich bag, now thaw them out together in hot tap water.

Once the rat has been thawed out get a sharp knife, spit it's skull open till some of the juices come out (braining).... then insert some of the downy feathers in the incision. Does'nt have to have the whole thing in there just enough so it holds.

Feed that when it's in "ambush" mode by adangling it below with a pair of tongs.


shes never eaten everything with feathers will she still take it with the feather?

[red ink]

shes never eaten everything with feathers will she still take it with the feather?

Maybe... worth a shot, Morelias are natural avian predators. That's how I got my JCP to switch to rats. Happened quick too just scented it with feathers (plus braining) over two feeds, next two was just mouse scented... by the fifth they were unscented and he was taking them with vigour.

[lady_bug87]

makes sense thanks

[lady_bug87]

I have a sinking feeling that my GTP is going to be a mouser

I have taken to heating up her mice with the rats I feed my other snakes and last time I really scented it good since I am trying to get her accustomed to the smell of rat and the little bugger refused to eat it until my husband reheated the mouse in new water and rinsed off the rat smell.

*sigh*

[exwizard]

Try scenting the rat with mouse scent instead. Does your mouse supplier have mouse scented bedding? That usually works pretty well and we do this for our customers who request this.

[lady_bug87]

I did that too, I had a rat pink that I heated, and covered in mouse guts it was an epic fail

[exwizard]

I can relate actually. Mick is a mouse eater while his future gf Sheila is on rats. I was told he will eventually switch, but we'll see.

[lady_bug87]

she just really stresses out when she smells the rat she strikes over and over again and then she grabs it and drops it

[exwizard]

sounds like me with Tuna sandwiches. "yucko tuey!" Keep plugging away and hopefully she will change. As for Mick, I'll wait until hes 2, an age I was told he would naturally switch, and try then.

[lady_bug87]

yea the breeder who produced her managed to find me through this forum and told me to leave her on mice until she is big enough to take adult mice without leaving a decent bump and THEN try and switch her

[exwizard]

Yeah I would take the breeder's advice on this one if I were you. :)