Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have a jungle carpet python who refuses to eat frozen/thawed rats. She is usually very good about biting behind the neck and avoiding the mouth. However this past feeding time i noticed the rat latched onto her cheek. It really freaked me out but turns out her scales were just a little dented up, no actually blood or puncture wounds. This was enough to scare me about feeding her again though and im not too sure of a way to stun a rat so that it wont act this way without actually killing it. If you have any feedback id really appreciate it.

What have you tried to get it onto prekilled?

Do you warm up the rats when they are thawed out? I've never worked with carpets, but picky pythons can often be tricked by a warm, dry, moving prekilled rodent.

Try killing the rat immediately before presenting it to your python so it still has proper body temp. Or alternatively, nice warm water and then dry it with paper towels.

Use forceps, move it around, do the hokie-pokie, etc until it hits. sometimes you just have to keep trying, again, and again, and again ad nauseum.

It can be a bit of a hassle but I'd rather deal with the hassle than missing eyes, etc.

That's my two cents anyway. Carpet keepers may have some secret tricks as well

good luck
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lost in the jungle somewhere
Z

my JCP only eats F/T,,,,but i have to warm them up,,,,or he has no interest in them,,,,

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Ball Python
Jungle Carpet Python
Eastern King
Mexican Black King
Sonoran Gopher
Aberrent Cal King
Anduran Milk
Hypo Brooks
Amel Motley Corn
White Sided Bull
Striped Pacific Gopher
Axanthic Brooksi
Goini King

I love the smell of aspen shavings in the morning...lol

"To serve man..it's...it's a cookbook!"

Warm it up a little.

Our python (Not a carpet, but they all eat rodents) will not even respond unless the F/T is warm.

The one time he did, he hit my nice warm hand instead.
Dances With Reptiles

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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey

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Keep something near you can put between the rats mouth like an inkpen or tip of a small snake hook so it cant clamp down ,lots of times when you do this they will release and bite on what you have in its (the rats) mouth.people seem freaked out because you feed live but hey if thats what it takes to keep him going,ive had many snakes who would only accept live,just a fact of life if you want to own snakes then you need to do what it takes to keep them fed and healthy,good luck and stay with the feeding snake until the rat is dead