Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

Just thought I'd post an update about the little black rat I found in my mother's shed.

He has settled in to his new home quite nicely. I have him in a 19 quart Rubbermaid storage bin on aspen shavings. After spending a week unmoving in his hide, he shed and started moving around more. Now I often find him curled up in the "lip" of plastic just under the lid.

His shed skin is 18 inches long.

The day after he shed (August 2), I dropped a F/T pinkie mouse into his hide with him, and then put his box back on the shelf so he would have quiet. I usually feed my Ball Python from chopsticks, but this little guy still spooks when things move near him, so I thought he might feed better if left alone. The next day (August 3) The pinkie was gone, and I was thrilled.

I handled him a bit over the weekend. He's quite easy to handle, and makes no threatening gestures. A very sweet snake, indeed.

Now, the problem. Last night I found the pinkie buried in the aspen shavings. I don't think it was regurgitated, I think it was just refused. The hide he was in was just an inverted plastic food container with a hole cut in it, set directly on the shavings.

So here's my feeding plan. I'm going to try another pinkie, but this time I'm going to put pinkie and snake into a closed container for a few hours. If that doesn't work I suppose I'll try a live pinkie tomorrow, and if that doesn't work I'll start to panic. Not really but I AM getting just a bit concerned.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would really love to hear them.

-Kays

P.S.- I have some pics, which I'll post as soon as I can get them off of my husband's computer....

Your plan is a good one. Sometimes a smaller space helps the snake find the food. Duffy

Duffy's advice is good and may work. You can also try a long set of forceps and moving the mouse around the opening of the snake's hide while he is in it. Snakes in the wild stalk or ambush their prey. A moving animal many times will stimulate the snake to strike, coil, constrict, and feed.

I would try Duffy's idea first. You might also want to add a drop of Mouse Maker to mask the dead animal smell. After you get the animal to feed a few times, offering f/t mice are not a problem.

Good luck with your Black Rat.

Rick

Sounds like a good plan.Blackrats are usually not a problem to feed.If that fails,try a live pink in a small confined space.Good luck with your new snake.
Mike M.

...wow...how big is that ratsnake?...it looks as big as the 7' yellow rat i used to have...

That one is not as big as it looks.Maybe 5' tops.See my post above.Thats my LTC male on his way to 7'.He was last measured 2 years ago at 76".I'm going to try that serpwidgit program(though I'm kind of a cumputor dummie) and see what that comes up with.

...sure looked big though...i cant wait till my little guy gets 6-7'...