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new JCP

redmoon Oct 22, 2007 07:32 AM

I picked up a male proven breeder at a show yesterday, to pair up with my 5 year old female. Got a great deal on him, too. He's about 5 years old, and his mate died this year. Rather than replacing the female, the former owner decided to focus on other projects.

He's very tiny, only about 4 feet long. The guy I got him from said it's because he ONLY eats live mice. He's never eaten a rat, and will only take ft if you poke him with it for 20 minutes & aggravate him into biting.

Any tips on getting him switched over to f/t rats?

The pics don't do him justice. His bands are narrow, but the yellow is brilliant, especially for an animal that's 5 years old! I can't wait to see what his babies look like.

Replies (2)

DavidKendrick Oct 23, 2007 09:26 AM

Great looking Jungle, on the whole feeding thing, the best advise I can give is to be PATIENT, I can't stress that enough...I know its very hard, and can be very frustrating switching over from Mice to Rats, but it can and will happen. I know many people say that thier snake is "Hooked" on mice, but I have switched over MANY "Hooked" snakes in the past, and really all it takes is patience....some take longer than others, but I have never had one of my snakes NOT switch over. It tends to be harder when you only have one snake, I have found it works best if you are able to thaw out rats and mice together...if not, try and snag a little sandwich bag of rat bedding from the local pet store...freeze it, and then use the bedding to scent the mice with.

From my expereince, during the time of "Switch Over" I tend to go longer periods of time between feedings, that ensures they are good and hungry when trying to switch. And as I mentioned, the key to the whole thing is Patience, it can and probably will be very frustrating, but the end result will be a really good thing, and it might take more than just a few times of trying, I had one hold out 5 months before finally making the switch over, luckly I had other snakes to feed the rats too, but now she feeds on rats like they where candy...I am actually working on a Jungle Carpet now that doesn't like rats...but it can be done.
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Executive Reptiles
Amanda Kingsbury & David Kendrick
www.executivereptiles.com

redmoon Oct 23, 2007 06:02 PM

thanks for the comments, and support. I'm not too terribly worried about switching him over. The guy I got him from says he's tried, and it's never worked, but . . . I'm willing to work with him! I'll try putting mouse bedding in with my rats, and see if that works.

Here's the female I'm pairing him up with. She dwarfs him, coming it at only around 6' long herself. Compared to her, he REALLY is tiny.

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