Best feeding regimen for switching to rat pinks?

[radstusky]

I am trying to switch Leto, my JCP, to FT rat pinkies from FT mice pinkies. Tonight was my second try at it, and it doesn't look like it's going to be successful. He's just hanging out on a branch above it. The last time I tried was a week ago.

My question is, what's the best procedure for getting him to start on the rats? Should I just keep trying on a weekly basis? Should I leave the rat in there overnight or just for an hour or so? It sucks to keep wasting these rats! So far I've been trying on a weekly basis and it's only been two weeks. I'm open to suggestions, except for those where I'm supposed to cut up a mouse and smother it's brain all over a rat. We're not quite at the stage yet!

[Jay]

try not feeding, or handling for a few more weeks then try

[stephanbakir]

Don't worry about it for a few weeks, keep trying but dont worry.

[red ink]

Scent the rat with the mouse.... after two weeks of not feeding or handling. Scent it less and less with the mouse as it starts to take the rat.

[Lankyrob]

Personally (and assuming it is f/t) i would only try feeding every two weeks until he takes them and leave them overnight on a plate in the tank. Persistance is the thing, dont give in and give him a mouse, just keep going with the rats until he eats.

[shaunyboy]

how does it normally take the mice does it strike feed or lay feed overnight ?

the only way you will get them crossed over is to scent the rats with mice.

i heat the rat pup up with a hair dryer also heat up a mouse pink

then burst the mouse pink open and smear the rat with the mouse blood and guts

the only other method that may work is heating up the rat pup then puncture the skull 3 or 4 times so that grey liquid comes out the puncture holes then give the head another quick heat and offer

i know none of the above sound very appealing to do but it's a must if you are to get your carpet onto rats

it takes an awfull lot of mice to feed a full grown carpet python

i've even had carpets swap over to rat pups then when i moved them up a food size to rat fluffs i had to scent the RAT fluffs with burst open RAT pups.

i only offer rats to my carpets right from their first feed out the egg its only older carpets i have bought from others i've had to cross over from mice

the one exception i make is hatchling diamonds but i always defrost their mice fuzzy's with the rats lying on top of them so they have a rat scent to them.its only because diamond hatchlings are so small and slow growing i use mice for their first year as they don't get enough nourishment from rat pups.most carpets grow quick and are up a food size from pups very quickly diamonds however can't takedecent enough sized rats until they are in their late 2nd early 3rd year of age

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

how does it normally take the mice does it strike feed or lay feed overnight ?

the only way you will get them crossed over is to scent the rats with mice.

i heat the rat pup up with a hair dryer also heat up a mouse pink

then burst the mouse pink open and smear the rat with the mouse blood and guts

the only other method that may work is heating up the rat pup then puncture the skull 3 or 4 times so that grey liquid comes out the puncture holes then give the head another quick heat and offer

i know none of the above sound very appealing to do but it's a must if you are to get your carpet onto rats

it takes an awfull lot of mice to feed a full grown carpet python

i've even had carpets swap over to rat pups then when i moved them up a food size to rat fluffs i had to scent the RAT fluffs with burst open RAT pups.

i only offer rats to my carpets right from their first feed out the egg its only older carpets i have bought from others i've had to cross over from mice

the one exception i make is hatchling diamonds but i always defrost their mice fuzzy's with the rats lying on top of them so they have a rat scent to them.its only because diamond hatchlings are so small and slow growing i use mice for their first year as they don't get enough nourishment from rat pups.most carpets grow quick and are up a food size from pups very quickly diamonds however imo can't take decent enough sized rats until they are in their late 2nd early 3rd year of age

WAYNE,IVE DOUBLE POSTED SO IF YOU WOULD BE KIND ENOUGH TO REMOVE ONE WHEN YOU HAVE THE TIME IT WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED MATE

cheers shaun

[radstusky]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

how does it normally take the mice does it strike feed or lay feed overnight ?

the only way you will get them crossed over is to scent the rats with mice.

i heat the rat pup up with a hair dryer also heat up a mouse pink

then burst the mouse pink open and smear the rat with the mouse blood and guts

the only other method that may work is heating up the rat pup then puncture the skull 3 or 4 times so that grey liquid comes out the puncture holes then give the head another quick heat and offer

i know none of the above sound very appealing to do but it's a must if you are to get your carpet onto rats

it takes an awfull lot of mice to feed a full grown carpet python

i've even had carpets swap over to rat pups then when i moved them up a food size to rat fluffs i had to scent the RAT fluffs with burst open RAT pups.

i only offer rats to my carpets right from their first feed out the egg its only older carpets i have bought from others i've had to cross over from mice

the one exception i make is hatchling diamonds but i always defrost their mice fuzzy's with the rats lying on top of them so they have a rat scent to them.its only because diamond hatchlings are so small and slow growing i use mice for their first year as they don't get enough nourishment from rat pups.most carpets grow quick and are up a food size from pups very quickly diamonds however can't takedecent enough sized rats until they are in their late 2nd early 3rd year of age

cheers shaun

Normally he would just grab it and constrict it as if it were alive, picking it up off the plate. I usually feed him in his cage by placing the food on a lid or something to keep it off the substrate. I defrost the rat by putting in a plastic bag placed in hot water for a while, and give it to him while it's still warm.

Well, I'll keep trying then, thanks for everyone's advice!

[Lankyrob]

One thing i do just before feeding is to press the skull against a hot radiator to make the head significantly hotter than the torso, gives a nice hot "target" for the snake. Thankfully my carpet is my garbage disposal, any snake that doesnt eat he will "tidy up" for me!

[Jay]

when was the last shed?

[radstusky]

Originally Posted by jay0133

when was the last shed?

His last shed was around mid-march, so about a month ago.

[radstusky]

Hurray! Just wanted to update that Leto ate his first rat pink tonight! I had placed a couple of rat pinks in with the mice fuzzies I still have in the freezer. I thawed a rat with a mouse at the same time, and then rubbed the mouse all over the rat to get its scent on it. I'm happy this worked! Hopefully he'll be on schedule from here on out.

[radstusky]

Here are a couple of pics!!