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my yearling has been eating 2 jumbos every 5 to 7days, and now i'm trying to get him on a rabbit diet. He's used to frozen thawed, I thawed out a rabbit last night "same size as a jumbo", and he went up to it, sniffed it a few times over the course of a couple hours, (looked like he was going for it) but didn't eat it. I'm wondering if i should rub a rat on the rabbit for the scent, or just keep offering a rabbit until he decides he's hungry enough to chance it. any other tips would be greatly appreciated

Hi there!
I'm sorry your question hasn't been answered already. I saw it the other day & "assumed" someone else would answer and I'm trying not to appear as a forum hog by answering every post. As you can see, things are hectic around here & I'm sure your post has just been overlooked.

"my yearling has been eating 2 jumbos every 5 to 7days, and now i'm trying to get him on a rabbit diet. He's used to frozen thawed, I thawed out a rabbit last night "same size as a jumbo", and he went up to it, sniffed it a few times over the course of a couple hours, (looked like he was going for it) but didn't eat it. I'm wondering if i should rub a rat on the rabbit for the scent, or just keep offering a rabbit until he decides he's hungry enough to chance it.

I do just as you did with every snake that I begin to switch over to rabbits. If that doesn't work I try scenting it by rubbing rats on it or letting it sit in rat bedding (which not everyone has) for a few hours.

Other techniques I've used:
* Feed the snake one rat & offer it a rabbit as it finishes swallowing the tail of the rat, or soon thereafter - while the feeding mode is still strong. If this works, offer it a rabbit first at the next feeding - if it doesn't take it, repeat the above (rat and then rabbit). It can take several feedings to get 'em switched over.

* Feed the snake one rat & place the head of a rabbit in it's mouth as it finishes swallowing the rat. Depending on the size of the snake it might be a good idea to use gloves, forceps, grabbers, etc, to place & hold the rabbit's head in the snake's mouth. Some snake's will try to back their mouth off the rabbit while others will just continue to swallow.

It's been my experience that using rabbits the same size, or a tad smaller, than the size rat they're used to eating works best.

Timing: Every now & then I come across a really stubborn snake. When they become sexually mature some, especially males, will go off feed for long periods during breeding season. I use this to my advantage. It was the only way that I finally got my male het albino/labyrinth switched over. Even after 7 months of not eating he wouldn't take a rabbit. His health was still good enough for me to wait it out & about a month and a half later he finally gave in.

Best wishes!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

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