Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

Has anyone figured out what a ball will eat besides mice if it is strictly a mice feeder. I have two that will not eat a rat. I have tried everything and they will only eat a mouse. Is there another type of rodent they will eat that has size to it. I have a pastel that only eats mice and I have to feed it 4 to 6 a feeding.

Have you tried any tricks to get him to eat rats?
Try not feeding him for a week and offering a rat. Then try keep the rat overnight in woodchips that mice have been living in (to scent it).
Eventually, he will be hungry enough to take the rat.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I have a female pastel that WILL NOT eat rats. End of discussion.
She would eat a (male) mouse without hesitation anytime.
She switched over to African Soft Furs with no problems (males or females), now she's on SFs only...
She was my worst feeder, now she's my best!
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Corvid
"Look Like An Innocent Flower, But Be The Serpent Under It." ~William Shakespeare

1.0 Spider
0.1 Pastel (poss. het for pied - We'll see!)
0.1 Het Pied
1.0 Lesser
0.1 Pinstripe
0.2 Mojave

Yes,

I had tried everything. She will only eat a mouse. I am going to have to find a source for the ASF. I just at this time cant afford to feed them. I would love to find an inexpensive source for them.

I'm just feeding my ASFs dog food and they are growing like weeds. So feeding them doesn't cost much at all. They get to a decent size, though not as large as rats can, they are still larger than mice. I like keeping them also because their colony seems much more stable than a mouse colony does since these rodents are naturally communal. Mice are not.
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1.1 ball pythons
1.1 kingsnakes
0.1 crazy cat
?.? ASFs
1.0 husband

Where are you located? I'm in Northern Colorado. I have a ton of ASFs. Just ask Corvid!!!

I switched my 2 year old ball from mice to rats by going off feed for a few weeks, then defrosting a mouse with a small rat. I left her with the warm prey in a feeding tub for about 30 minutes. This makes it harder to ignore. She ate everything. I was surprised it worked on the first try, because switching from live to f/t took a couple months. She is now taking rats consistently.

I have only had a few "mousers" that I picked up from other people. I have been able to switch ALL of them to rats.

1) Find a small white rat, about the size of a large adult mouse.
2) Leave it for a few hours in unchanged (kept longer than normal) mouse clippings. You want it nice and stinky.
3) Put it in with the snake just as it's getting dark and leave it.
4) Once they start taking the rat, reduce the scenting. You want to gradually introduce the rat smell while reducing the mouse smell.

This has always worked for me.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

What is ASFs dog food? Curious.

AFS stands for AFRICAN SOFT FURS (ball python natural food sorce) dog food is dog food they eat....mark sisco

Maybe I am weird but I only feed mice to my balls. I breed my own and they get very large as mice go. It does take 4 or 5 to fill an adult ball but I do not mind and neither do they. My animals seem to grow as fast or faster on mice. I just had a het pied female go from 250 grams to 1500 in 10 months. I also feel that mice are less risky to feed live than rats. I do not feed thawed rodents, only live or freshly killed! I know for a fact that an animal that normally eats only live/freshly killed animals in the wild should get live/freshly killed animals in captivity. I think previously frozen is a less than ideal meal nutritionally speaking. Freezing causes degradation/change of nutrients.

Just an FYI

Kevin

np!

Well my snake wouldnt eat rats at all. Until...

So I tried the usual tricks ( scenting, waiting long periods of time for no reason, re-thawing, juggling them before feeding and of course I tried putting it on a silver platter)...and nothing worked!

But I did get one method to work perfectly.

I fed a mouse ( small size - without any rat smell on it) and she took it instantly.
Then I gave her a rat (scented with a mouse) right after and she took it. Seeing as how small the 1st mouse is, she almost has no choice but to chow down on the rat if she wants a full meal.

Basically my snake expects a mouse appetizer before the main course...picky lil f&?/er huh? I should send her a bill.

The mouse seems to entice some feeding response and once they are in that mood its easier to get them to feed on other prey.

Again, this method worked for me because my snake eats mice with no problems already. Shes not a problem feeder...just a picky one.
So my deducing tells me that my snake eats with a specific routine. Other snakes are very different.

I call it the primer method give em a mouse and then a much bigger "mouse" they never seem to notice that it was a scented rat and after doing this a few times they will just start taking rats un scented after the mouse then no mouse "primer at all just the un scented rat.
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1.0 Sunrise (sshhh)
1.0 Yellow Belly
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0.5 Het nerd Orange Hypo
0.2 poss Het nerd Orange Hypo
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0.1 Tiger ball (unproven)
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0.1 Pastel Het ghost
1.0 salmon boa
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1.0 albino vanishing pattern nelsons
2.0 Het albino vanishing pattern nelsons
0.1 blue tail monitor (adult male wanted)
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2.2 felines aka boa food ;o
And I am not gonna count all those rats . . .

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Brian
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That is so darn funny " a mouse appetizer".

I have mouse eaters, I have raised and bred huge balls on mice, I use large mice....2 maybe 3 at a time....balls do not have to be stuffed to grow well....they just need to be fed, often and well.....

....find larger mice, old retired breeder mice, not the little pet shop mice...

.....find a local breeder?....try african rats/mice.....stuff like gerbils and chinese hamsters can be a pain to get....

.mice are fine......just rethink it a little......
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I always un-thaw my mice and rats togeather. Most of my balls will switch over to small rats from adult mice no problem.
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Coolluigi

1.0 Pastel
1.0 Yellowbelly
0.2 Normal
0.1 Spider
1.2 Het VPI Axanthic (Babies are getting bigger!!)
and soon to be more. *fingers crossed*