Trouble Switching to Rats

TylerWortman · 11-29-10, 01:39 PM

I have a young JCP. She is big enough to eat rats and I've tried scenting the rat with mice bedding but I have been unable to get her to eat. I have tried live rats and she just bites in defense and will not constrict the rat. Its been about 2 weeks since she's eaten. Should I wait longer and try and feed her another rat? What should I do?

dragunov.762 · 11-29-10, 01:41 PM

i would wait. she will eventually get hungry enough to eat a rat. if in 2 months or so she hasn't i would offer a large mouse.

marvelfreak · 11-29-10, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragunov.762

i would wait. she will eventually get hungry enough to eat a rat. if in 2 months or so she hasn't i would offer a large mouse.

^He said it all.

Nafun · 11-29-10, 09:34 PM

This is why I never gave my JCP mice. I was warned they were notoriously hard to switch to rats if they get used to mice.

Gruesome as it sounds, you can try scenting the rat with blood or brains from a dead mouse.

You don't say how you are scenting. The most effective way in my experience is to scent the rat by rubbing it in soiled mouse bedding (make sure no wood shavings are stuck to the fur). May sound gross to have the rat smeared with mouse poo and wee, but that's basically what a mouse smells like. Anyone who has bred them will tell you, they smell like a port-a-potty one day after cleaning.

TylerWortman · 11-29-10, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TylerWortman

I've tried scenting the rat with mice bedding but I have been unable to get her to eat.?

I've tried just bedding but not "soiled" I don't know if you mean to say spoiled but I'ill try that next. Then I'll resort to the brains and goo and blood and ew next try. The next plan is to just be patient and wait until she gets hungry enough to give a rat a taste.

I am still worried that all this might fail.

Any other ideas?

Freebody · 11-30-10, 12:21 AM

i have a carpet python im converting atm, i waited over a month then rubbed a dead mouse all over my pinky rat and he took it, every week i rub less and less, he still will not take the rat unless i rub it but it to the point now where im hardly scenting it at all, i try to feed a scented one first then a unscented one after. it a good idea to do it like that, smaller pray so you can feed more than one, until hes switched, oh yeah try to take some soap and water and really clean the rat first and risce realy well. a very good breeder i know has done this for years, i tried and it worked for me as well. GL bro

TylerWortman · 11-30-10, 12:41 AM

Thanks Freebody. That's some really good info!

Xanafein · 11-30-10, 04:39 AM

I had a horrible time getting my 5 month old switched from mice to rats, she takes them now with about an 80% or so success rate, i let the rats live in some nasty mouse bedding the local pet store gives me then clean off the rat, removing any woodchips ect. and she chomps right on em,once I have her taking them all the time I will start working her to F/t

Nafun · 11-30-10, 06:26 AM

Soiled as in dirty, in need of cleaning. Soaked with urine and containing lots of crap.

We clean the mouse racks once or twice a week, so when it's cleaning day, I grab the rat, and rub it on the bedding.

Reptile_Reptile · 11-30-10, 05:45 PM

nafun is ur sig a reality for you? and yea they got it all thats how itss done

Nafun · 12-01-10, 05:30 AM

It was, I'm not sure if it still is. Three of my turtle hatchlings died from a respiratory infection, and I lost my milk snake to a drug resistant pancreatic infection.

I have..

Dodge - Adult Male Ball Python
Bocce - Adult Male Ball Python
Mr. Slithers - Sub Adult Female Ball Python
Snuggles - Yearling Ball Python
Berber - Sub Adult Female Jungle Carpet Python
Julius - Sunglow Corn Snake
Fire - Young high red Flame Eastern Garter Snake
Sunset - Young flame eastern garter snake.
Cuddles - Sub Adult Columbian Rainbow Boa
Iggy - Sub Adult Green Iguana
Yoshi - Adult Chinese Water Dragon
Nosh - Sub Adult Bearded Dragon
Lord Rufus Penceworth Figglebottom III, of the Lancaster Figglebottoms - Young Argentine Black & White Tegu
Yertle - Male Southern Painted Turtle hatchling
Raphael - Female Southern Painted Turtle hatchling

RIP: Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo Painted turtle hatchlings.
RIP: Jonas - Pueblan Milk Snake (Drug resistant pancreatic/intestinal infection)

MIA: Houdini - Desert Phase California Kingsnake. He lived up to his namesake. My wife hasn't given up hope, but I think he's gone for good.

shaunyboy · 12-01-10, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragunov.762

i would wait. she will eventually get hungry enough to eat a rat. if in 2 months or so she hasn't i would offer a large mouse.

dont want a fight but the above is not the way to go

it would only defeat the purpose as

all you would be doing is putting it right back to mice

perciverance is whats required

is it a rat pup your offering ?

was the jungle eating frozen thawed mice or live ?

if it was eating f/t mice then

dont go live !!!

scent the pup with a mouse

heat and burst a mouse and smear blood and guts all over the rat pup

imo its a taste thing

mice taste better than rats

it could be because a rat is a new type of food source so smells different to the mouse

either way you need to scent the rat

once he starts eating scented then every second feed reduce the amount of mouse blood and guts you use to scent

always give the rat an extra heat after scenting

this is why NONE of my hatchlings get offered anything but rats

the older they get the harder it can be to change them onto rats

2 weeks is not a long time to go without food

ive had hatchlings not eat until they were 10 months old with no ill effect

by putting in a live rat your programing the jungle to see rats as a danger,this will only make your job harder in the long run

the above is just my way of doind and my humble opinion

cheers shaun

TylerWortman · 12-01-10, 10:09 AM

She is currently eating live mice and I tried a live rat about the size of my thumb. I'd like to just switch without having to smear blood and guts and all but I don't see that happening. What's the best way to get mice blood and all?

Nafun · 12-01-10, 01:08 PM

Get a live mouse. Grip it by the tail and swing it overarm toward a table so that its head hits the edge of the table. It will break its neck and send it into convulsions killing it almost instantly. Or you can gas them. CO2 works best. I use a whipped cream canister. CO2 cartridges for seltzer bottles fit inside. Put rodent in bag, stick nozzle in bag. Fill bag with co2 and seal. Dead rodent in about 30 seconds. (this is expensive to do 1 rodent at a time... I use this method to kill multiple litters of pinks for freezing).

To get blood, just cut open the freshly dead mouse with a sharp knife and smear. It will be gruesome. If you get nauseated, smile. Smiling suppresses the gag reflex. To get brain... this is really really gruesome. You can either cut into the skull with a sharp knife (this can be difficult), or you can crush the skull, then slice open the head to get to brains.

Just don't forget to kill the poor thing first.

Also, you could get lucky. About half the time I prekill by whacking' em against a table they start bleeding profusely out the nose.

Swan · 12-01-10, 04:17 PM

Try killing the rat and put it in front of your snake. This is how I got mine to switch. NOT f/t. Live rat crack em on the table and put them both in there feeding box. Sorry guys I know most of you use f/t, but my snakes all of em eat live. There's no f/t rats in nature. A lot of people say they will get hurt. None of my snakes have ever had a problem with bite marks or scars.