Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey I've got a question. My wife went and got a large mouse for my pinstripe.... This mouse is far from large. Anyway ive got rat pups. So I was going to give her a large mouse and see if shell take a rat pup, but I've heard not to feed two meals in a row? These are extremely small for her, but she won't go after the larger rats. But she should be eating weaned or sen small rats. Should I wait a day in between feedings or just give them both to her tonight one after the other.

If you are trying to switch to rats the best plan is to feed one right after the other while the feeding response is still strong, this has worked well for me in the past.
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http://s1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/Tat2darin/

Feeding 2 meals in row is no problem as long as they're not too big. The 2 meals combined should not be larger than the biggest rat you would feed at 1 time. Chris

Shouldn't have any problems. How do you think people with 1500 gram mouse eaters feed their snakes. 2-4 meals in a row...that's how.
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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)

www.youtube.com/reptilenexus

Well I think that's what I might be on the direction of here soon. I think my pinstripe told me to **** off last night cause she only wants mice. When I purchased her she was labeled as a live rat eater. I'm not sure if her taste buds changed or if the breeder labelled her as such thinking that she would be more desireable that way. None the less here's what happened in detail. Tell me what you guys think.

I put the mouse in and she showed interest and slammed it instantly. I stayed and watched her eat because I've heard that mice can be more aggressive than rats. My smaller 400g snakes that were just moved up had their f/t weaned rats were down quicker with there weaned rats which were porportionally much larger in comparison to my 900g pinstripe and her tiny mouse. I mean she was slow, it took her almost 30min to swallow this tiny mouse. So my first thought was that maybe she has something wrong with her that made it difficult for her to eat and that's why she tries to not eat often.

After she was done and moving around a little bit I went and pulled one of my rat pups which was roughly the same size as the mouse and put it in with her. She showed about as much interest in that rat as most people can show watching paint dry. So now my next thought was maybe she prefers mice. I guess we will see next week when I try to offer multiple mice.

After I was sure she wouldn't eat the pup I pulled it out which she was really unhappy with me putting my hands in her home right after she ate. She was all kinds of pissed off. I hope she doesn't regurgitate, but that's also to be determined. Anyway what I chose next might not have been the smartest thing I've done but we'll see.

I didn't want to put the rat pup back with the litter for fear the mother wouldn't care for it because it didn't smell right. And I didn't want the rat pup to die senselessly. So I grabbed the rat pup and put the live pup in with one of my strong frozen thawed feeders. Continued on next post->

So anyway I now have a small fear that I may have turned one of my strong f/t feeders into a live feeder. But I think I'll be ok here because I used the tongs to put the pup in with this snake and she snagged it right from the tongs as if it was f/t. And like I said she's a super strong feeder to begin with. So I'll see if I did any damage next Sunday, but till then let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,
Mike

I wouldn't worry about the mother rat not taking care of the pup. I usually leave rat fuzzies in with hatchlings overnight and there's no problems when I put them back into the litter they came from.
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Chris
Metal Monkey Exotics

I put rat pups that were rejected as meals back with the mother rat all the time. Never had an issue.
-----
"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)

www.youtube.com/reptilenexus

My strong f/t eaters, will eat live from time to time if I'm just trying to get rid of something (I don't breed my own rodents). They've ALWAYS taken f/t from me again. They are just great eaters. I've also switched one from mice to rats and back and forth... again... if I'm trying to get rid of one stupid mouse that nobody will eat.
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino (Gormagon)
1.0 Lesser (Wendell)

Check the tub today... She shed. So now I'm all cornfused. Wasn't she finicky cause she was in shed? Does she like rats? Does she like mice? Is she a lover and not a fighter? Does she think the food is her baby and does she want to snuggle with it? I guess I'll just go on with the plan as normal, but she's really starting to get under my skin. Another thing... I haven't checked my records, but it seems like she sheds an awful lot more than my other ball pythons and she eats the least and is at a larger wait. I'll check the records tonight, but would it be normal for a 900g snake that isn't eating or gaining weight very regularly to shed more often than a 400g snake that's been putting on 85g a month pretty regularly?

Thanks Again,
Mike

Just as an example, I've had a snake that would eat ONE when in shed, but not two even though he would usually eat 3. Granted, I never tried a rat pup, he's only on mice (until later this month I hope). My thoughts: Just try again. It shouldn't hurt.

Not sure about how often your pin is shedding, but my het albino hasn't eaten in a month and a half and started shedding which we thought was strange, but hey. I told her she's gotta be a freaking champ after this because I'm tired of her not eating
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Teresa
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3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino (Gormagon)
1.0 Lesser (Wendell)