Ee ggads rats stink! (Switching mice to rats)

[alessia55]

Sigh... I guess that's why I could never hunt or kill any animal myself... I have way too soft of a heart... Unless the animal is sick and in pain and would be better of dead, I don't think I could do it, regardless of the animal. Feeding live mice to my adult bp (bc he won't eat anything else, though I'm trying to switch him over as we speak) is hard for me. But teh kittehs have an especially soft spot in my heart

[alessia55]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

That looks diseased.

You're diseased! That kitteh is so cute! hehehe (jk!- on the "you're diseased" part)

[millertime89]

I agree with Kat, if its for me/my pets for food and (almost) nothing goes to waste, I'm ok with it. I'll have no problems feeding rabbits to a full size boa or retic

[millertime89]

and yes, that kitten is adorable and I would love to adopt him/her. I have a white cat right now that is an outdoor cat, when he's clean he's all white. Right now... he's mostly grey and brown, with some black spots and some white blotches.

[ZARADOZIA]

Today was feeding day and I don't know if it was because Sasha was extra hungry or what, but she struck and consumed the RAT faster than any mouse previously. YAY!

She was in striking distance before I even grabbed the rat. I was going to let the rest of the water out of the tub but her body language said I was going to be food if I did. So I grabbed the rat and she struck it as soon as it was close enough. I then let the rest of the water out of the tub and she was a happy girl while she ate. I kept waiting for her to spit it out, but she didn't.

I hope she does this again next time!

***The rat was soaked in hot faucet water with a mouse so the scents could co-mingle.

For those wondering why I am trying to switch Sasha from mice to rats:
Sasha is 4 feet 5 inches long and almost 7 inches in grith at her thickest. 1 meduim rat is the size of 2 xxl mice. A normal feeding of mice for her is 3-4 mice every other week. Once she is fully switched to rats, I can feed her 1 medium or large rat opposed to 4 mice.

[alessia55]

Zara thanks for this. I'm still trying to switch Kaybe over from mice (3 in a feeding) to rats and I never thought to thaw a rat under the same water with the mouse for the scents to co-mingle that way. I'll try that and see if it works for me.

So glad she ate that rat for you! I'm sure it's a relief that she's finally switching over and that it might be easier on your wallet

[ZARADOZIA]

Originally Posted by alessia55

Zara thanks for this. I'm still trying to switch Kaybe over from mice (3 in a feeding) to rats and I never thought to thaw a rat under the same water with the mouse for the scents to co-mingle that way. I'll try that and see if it works for me.
So glad she ate that rat for you! I'm sure it's a relief that she's finally switching over and that it might be easier on your wallet

It's not easy and after the colossal fail the first time of trying to switch her I am going to go slow with this.

Oops, I made a mistake, just looked at my calendar and normally I feed her every 7-10 days. Right now while I am trying to switch her, I am waiting 15 days between feedings.

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

[alessia55]

Sigh. So I waited 14 days rather than the regular 10 days between feeding Kaybe to entice him with a rat (yet again). This time I got the rat from Petco since he likes the Petco mice so much. I'd never thought to buy the rat from Petco, but it makes sense since they use the same bedding etc. so I thought that might make sense. When I presented it to him he seemed somewhat interested, but eventually didn't eat it. Now I get to return the rat and wait another 2 weeks I guess.... Sigh... I'm so tired of playing this game with him... he always wins!

[KORBIN5895]

How can you return the rat? Is it alive?

[alessia55]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

How can you return the rat? Is it alive?

Yes, it is well and alive and completely untouched. He will go back to Petco today

[ZARADOZIA]

OK So Sasha took a rat all by herself on the feed before last (Nov 15) but refused to eat this last time. I think she is into her winter mode OR she refused because her shed is interfering with her feeding schedule...although it has never been an issue before. We will see what happens after she finishes her shed.

So..strange things...Last night was the first time ever since I have had her that she crawled in her soak tub and is soaking herself! I am amazed and not real sure of what to think about this drastic change in events. She has never used her soak tub before..this is the first time she has ever acted like a normal snake. I'm pretty happy about it! Her humidity levels are spot on and everything.

[alessia55]

Lucky you! You got Sasha to eat a rat! Nicely done. I hope she takes another one next week. I've never seen my balls soak. Did you get pics?

[KORBIN5895]

My baby bci ate a small rat last night and I am stoked! That means alleluia of my snakes are on rats so my orders are much easier.

[millertime89]

I had never seen my baby BRB soak until a few weeks ago, yours has probably done it before you just have never seen it.

[ZARADOZIA]

Haven't had a chance to get pics, but she is still in it! Busy running errands for my new adoptee.