Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Jeff. I am a long time herper, but a bit of a newbie with BRB's. I have had Columbian and Guyanan years ago.
I now have 3 BRB's. 2 young males and a large female. The female is 7' and very healthy. Problem is, if it is a problem, she won't eat rats. When I first got her, she would eat a jumbo rat every 3 weeks or so. Then, she stopped. She will show interest, but not eat a thawed rat anymore.

Wait...it gets better! Now she will only eat mice. 6-10 at a time. I have to "tease" her by basically slapping her on the side of her head with them! She is a very timid girl and very gentle, but the mice are a PITA!

Any ideas to get her back on rats?

Bill T

Bill T.,
...You might try and see if she will eat live rats anywhere from fuzzy size up to about 4 ounces. Several of my adults will not eat large frozen rats. They will eat mid size rats live or fresh killed very readily though. I am not sure if they would eat a live large rat because I do not feed live rats larger than 4 ounces to any of my snakes. It could be that your frozen rats are getting stale or picking up odors in the frezer. I would guess that with some experimentation you will find some size live or dead rat that your snake will eat. If at first it will only take them live do not worry. With some work you can probably get it to take them fresh killed right after eating a live one and gradually switch it back to just fresh dead ones and then to frozen thawed again. I occasionally have adult BRBs including females that are not gravid go off feed for a couple months. I don't worry about them too much but just keep trying different things to get them back on feed. The one meal that they most often restart eating is live pinky rats left in a pile with them overnight in a plastic storage box.
Good luck,
Jeff

>>Hi Jeff. I am a long time herper, but a bit of a newbie with BRB's. I have had Columbian and Guyanan years ago.
>> I now have 3 BRB's. 2 young males and a large female. The female is 7' and very healthy. Problem is, if it is a problem, she won't eat rats. When I first got her, she would eat a jumbo rat every 3 weeks or so. Then, she stopped. She will show interest, but not eat a thawed rat anymore.
>>
>> Wait...it gets better! Now she will only eat mice. 6-10 at a time. I have to "tease" her by basically slapping her on the side of her head with them! She is a very timid girl and very gentle, but the mice are a PITA!
>>
>>Any ideas to get her back on rats?
>>
>>Bill T

Thanks for the quick reply!
My only worry is that I don't want to condition her to "the cage opening" to trigger a feeding responce, as she is a a "pet", at this point rather than a breeder.
These snakes are very interesting. I really love the BRB's. Unlike any other snake I have kept.
Thanks again for your input, much appreciated.

Bill T

I really don't think you will condition her with a few feedings. Have you tried scenting the rats?

Linda

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"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer

Hi Linda! Thats my next plan. I have a years worth of jumbo rats in the freezer. Is there a particular teq to scenting, or just rub a mouse on the rats nose? I have never done it before.

Thanks.

BT

...years back since the pet store I was working at coulndn't get them to stop producing. Whole litters of pinky hampsters for free every week were a little tempting so I started feeding them to my corn snake. It was a big mistake. He loved them and I had a difficult time getting him back on mice. I would try to squish urine out of the hampsters onto the mice and nearly always get an ouchy bloody thumb out of it. The little corn would eat a mouse if it had hampster urine on it. After being bit the last time I started bringing home soiled bedding and putting it in a paper bag with a live mouse in it and kind of shaking/tossing it to get the mouse all covered with used hampster bedding. The corn would then eat it. Since you are feeding f/t I'd try defrosting the rat in with a mouse or mouse bedding or rubbing the mouse's privates all over the defrosted warmed rat. Or you might try a f/t mouse first followed by a rat and see if your snake will be in a feeding mode and just take the rat.

I would try the live rats first, because I really don't think you'll condition your BRB in a few feeding to strike at the opening of the enclosure. If you are still concerned about that you could take her out and then leave the live harmless sized rats in the cage and replace her overnight. Just make sure the soiled bedding is off the mice before if you try the shake in a bag method.

Linda