Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a normal Brooks kingsnake I purchased from BlueRosy. He's about 4' 3" in length and is healthy.

I'm currently feeding him three jumbo mice once a week, but i purchased a bag of small rats recently as I wish to transition him to rats. He didn't take the rat today with my first attempt. Do any of you have any suggestions as to how to transition him away from mice to rats? (I feed him frozen/thawed always).

Thanks,

Scott

I feed mine chicks and mice. Mostly chicks for adults because they cost .12 cents ea. So yours will eat chicks if you ever decide to get some.

But to transition to rats try thawing out some mice with the rat in a tub. Then kinda toss them like stir fry. This will get the mouse scent on the rat.

good luck!
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www.Bluerosy.com

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I'll give that a try this afternoon. Thanks.

BTW, we really like the snake; he's been a great family pet, healthy and docile--and growing like a weed!

Is it usually easy to transition to rats? I've talked with others that tell me that Brooks will eat almost anything.

Thanks,

Scott

It should be easy to transition. But then some individuals vary and do their own thing sometimes. Some need no transition. So will come rushing up to a rat and stop dead in their tracks with dissapointment look on their face.

Once he takes scented rat. he will take them w/o scent. He just needs to learn it is food to get a feeding response.
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www.Bluerosy.com

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Ha! I scented the rat with a mouse and he followed the rat around a bit and I moved it with tongs, but wouldn't strike.

After some time, I introduced the mouse to him, and he took the mouse.

I waited until he finished the mouse to try the rat again since he would be in his "feeding mood." He followed the rat and even bit at it couple times, but wouldn't take it.

I ended up flushing the rat down the toilet after I let it sit in the cage with the snake for an hour.

I'll try again next week.

Scott

I've got 3 from Bluerosy, 2 from John Cherry, 1 from BHB and one from Ben Seigel and a rescue...none of them took *any* prompting to take small rats or chicks. I'm honestly surprised yours didn't take one w/out problems.

Let it go a week then scent with a mouse. That'll probably work.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.

Yeah sometimes they are put off by the different smell, but I switched some adults to rats, that had been given mice all their life. I just let them get a little hungry, then start them on a mouse or two, then slipped in a small rat fuzzy. Start them off on very small rats first, then once they have gotten used to the smell of rats, they will take larger ones. Keep in mind that though they may look like they can eat quite large rats, Brooksi heads tend to be small, and may only be able to eat small to medium rats. But that is still better than feeding 6 or 7 mice, lol. Good luck, have patience, and it will happen.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

Thanks!

i guess i would have to ask, what size is "small"? if small is in the 80-100g range, you may have to transition with "smaller" rats 30-60g to get them started.

i fed my brooks rats all the time w/o problems but mostly it was one-two small (40-60g) f/t animals.

from what i have read/heard, f/t day old chicks often retain a lot of nutrients absorbed from the egg after hatching, and can be a real good source of nutrients. i did not feed my kings chicks but pines loved them.

peace,
daveb
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