Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had the hardest time finding anyplace in my area that has rat pups. My new pair of Het Ghost Balls were raised on rats alone and have never eaten mice. They are about 8 months old and were eating live weaned rats when I bought them. I can not find any store that carries pups. Today out of frustration I finally bought a pair of rats to try and breed my own. I ordered frozen from Rodent Pro. They get here on Thursday, but I have no idea if they'll take f/t having only eaten live. I tried feeding live mice but they wouldnt take. I'm outta ideas here. I even asked the local store if they'd reserve me rat pups when they get their orders in and they wont. Besides they get in pinkies not pups and they use whats left to feed their snakes. If these two wont take frozen I'm looking at another 4-5 weeks before i can possibly get any pups outta the rats I bought today. I never had this problem with my other balls because they were raised on both mice and rats inorder to avaoid imprinting like this. Next week I'll try the frozen ones and if that doesn't work I'll toss a mouse in with my rats and try to scent it. Anyone have any other ideas? I'm in Jersey if you know anywhere i can go.

Thanks

They should take the thawed, if not there is a Maryland show next Sat. where you could probably find some live. If you make sure the rats are 100 deg. F, and wiggle them a little, you shouldn't have any problems.

Chad

That's what I'm hoping for, but I didn't want to wait so I picked up the pair of rats as my last resort back up plan. I'm going to White Plains in 2 weeks so hopefully I'll find live ones there if it doesn't work. Thanks

I have started breeding my own. My local pet store is overrun with breeding rats, since a male accidentally ended up with his sister females. So I took a pregnant female rat off their hands; the babies will be a perfect size for my young BP and my BCI when I am ready to convert them frrom mouse to rat. Prekilled and then f/t, of course.
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And humans are supposed to be the world's most intelligent, civilized, and refined species, eh? Have you ever been in a crowded discount store?

Bryan

n/p

Good move in buying your own rats. Once these really get going in breeding for you, I don't think you'll ever go back to purchasing food for your snakes. Go to Wal Mart and pick up a bag of Ol' Roy dog food (the cheapest is the best) and you'll be set. Check out the Feeder Food forum for tips on keeping your rats healthy. You might find yourself just as interested in your snakes food as you are with your snakes.