Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Relic is about 4 yrs old and almost 4 ft long. For some reason she isnt to interested in rats but she'll eat multiple mice happily. Is this common?

It is common, but it is also fairly easy to get them on rats... you just have to be more stubborn than your snake. Rats have more fat and nutritional value than mice (mice are extremely lean for a 4-foot ball python). You CAN feed multiple mice at a time, but keep in mind that although a snake's stomach can stretch outwards to accommodate a thick meal, it doesn't really stretch lengthwise, so don't over-do it with too many mice.

~kasey

My female use to be the same way, I just was a little more then she was, I would offer her a rat as small as a large mouse and if she didn't eat it I would wait a week and try it again, until after about five or six weeks the hunger pains won over. So just give it time, and remember don't give in and show her who's boss.

Yeah....its seems like she's intimidated by rats or just not interested. I end up buying rats and wasting my money on them because she wont eat them and she's the biggest snake i have.

Something I do with my mouse eaters that for me works around 75% of the time is offer them a live or f/t smaller mouse. Then right after they get the mouse down offer a proper sized rat. Have you tried this yet?

Brad Ratliff

I have a trick that I have used successfully on most of my mousers.

1. Skip feeding the mouser for one week - just to get it nice and hungry.

2. Buy a few small adult white mice and one white rat pup (same size and color).

3. Toss in mouse (snakes snaps it up and eats it) toss in second mouse (snake snaps it up and eats it) throw in rat pup (snake snaps it up and eats it) throw in other last mouse. Meal done - last mouse is optional.

4. Skip a week or two of feeding

5. Next feeding buy one less mouse and one more rat pup

6. Toss in mouse (snake snaps it up and eats it) toss in second mouse, then toss in rat pups --- etc.

7. Gradually decrease the mice until the snake is only eating the pups - then gradually increase the size of the rat -- tho you may find that your snake my only eat small or wean size rats or may need a mouse to start every meal.

Please note - this method works well for a juvie to adult size snake whos meals consist of several mice and won't work as well if your snake isn't an aggressive mouse eater (if they don't snap up their feeders quickly it's harder to fool them).

Good luck!!!
-----
Tosha
JET Pythons

(CJBianco explaining the origins of the BP market.)
"In the beginning Bob created the Ball Python market. And the market was without morph, and wild traits were upon the industry. And Bob said, Let there be morph, and there was morph. And Bob saw the morph, that it was good; and Bob divided the morph from the wild trait. And Bob called the morph Albino, and the wild trait Normal. And the Albino and the Heterozygous Albino were the first investment.
-- Christopher 1:1-1:5"

have you tried placing the rat in some used mice bedding so the rat can pick up the smell of the mice. this trick works 95% of the time. you will convince the snake that it is a super mouse with this method.