Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I just wanted to share my great excitement with all particularly those that gave me all the great advice on how to switch over my picky king. Today after allowing the feeder redtailed rat snakes to freeze for over two weeks in order to destroy any internal parasites. I chopped one up into several pieces. I then thawed out several mice and washed them very well in order to remove as much scent as possible and allowed them to dry. I then got a piece of the thawed snake and placed the rodent head first into the body cavity of the snake therefore emercing its head with its blood and scent. I then introduced the rodent to my king via hemostats and after smelling it, it instantly walked it into its mouth. Several other scented mice followed but this time the king grabed them even quicker without even thinking as he was already stimulated and was in food mode. What amazes me is that this is the first time I tried scented rodents and to be honest I did not expect an immediate response the way I received. I expected it was going to take me many tries for the snake to except it. I guess each snake is an individual and responds differently. The next step is to offer scented rats as the mice were just bite sized snacks. I have to say when it grabed the first rodent I could hardly contain my excitement. The next step would also be to get it to except non scented rodents but for now I am satisfied with the results so far! I just wanted to thank all those who responded to my add as well as all those who emailed me personaly as I used a combination of information from various people in order to get these results. Sincerely, Tony L. Baez.

he will be on unscented rodents before you know it.

Good luck,
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Chad Bachman