Boots, my Burmese, absolutely refused to go near rats. She was terrified of their little dead, thawed corpses. I was worried about it for some time, and spent about six months trying to trick her in various ways to eat something other than the little popcorn mice she loved. No dice -- the closest I ever came to success was getting her to eat an albino frozen/thawed rat pup after thawing it along with five mice and then literally covering it in "mouse juice."



In the end, I just wound up keeping her on mice until she was able to move to Guinea pigs. While it looked quite silly feeding a six foot snake these little tiny mousies, she more than made up for it, growing to eight feet and gaining fifteen pounds in just under four months after the switchover.



My advice: By all means try to get her on rats. However, if she's refusing, don't sweat it. Mice are just as nutritious, if not very cost-conscious. When she gets to about six to six-and-a-half feet, give a smaller Guinea pig a try. If she accepts it, you're golden.



--jr

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