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OK. This pathetic little hick town I'm living in doesn't have a single pet shop that caters to reptile keepers at all. Not a big surprise I can't find live rat pups in any of them. So since that is not an option, I can't figure out a solution on what to do now. Should I just wait them out until they get so hungry, they strike at anything that moves? That doesn't seem like a good idea at all. It's past time for their first meal and I wanna get them feeding. Force feeding isn't necessary at this point yet though either. Anyone else ever had this problem? What other options do I have?

...just to get them feeding at least.
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Troy James Cromwell

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Small adult mice will work just as well to get them started on feeding. Some of my hatchlings started directly on F/T you can try that. Check you local herp society for another herper that might be breeding rodents or rodent breeders in your area. You still got some time, in the meantime maybe you can pick up an already pregnant adult female rat and hope she drops soon (LOL).
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Tosha

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You could try some frozen/thawed prey like Troy suggested some babies will take to them just fine and it saves you the effort of switching later if this is your preference.

If you are worried about prey imprinting go ahead and feed the small mice BUT get some bedding from a rat cage at the pet store (the employees may look at you strange but if you are insistent and explain yourself you should have no problems). Keep the mice on the rat bedding for an hour or two before offering them to your balls. This way they will at least have some rat scent to them making it easier to switch when you are better prepared.

In the meantime, you could breed your own rats. They are no where near as smelly as mice and are a whole lot more pleasant to work with. For a good start...

Listen to Tosha...she's on the right track. If your "small hick town" has a store that sells rats chances are they keep the males and females together in the same cage. Go to the store and ask if they have any pregnant females. Whenever I'm forced to go to the pet store for feeders (I try to stay a head of the game by timing my feedings with what I have available) I always look for a pregnant female or two. Even if they are not the size I am in need of. It's a cheap way to get extra feeders for free.
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It didn't really even cross my mind to use small mice because I wanted them to start on rats and stay on them. But they have no interest in any of the 100 frozen rat pups I have for them. That's a good idea about the rat bedding. I haven't had a baby ball python for about 4 years. I can't remember what tricks I used to get the last one feeding regularly. Thanks for everyone's tips though. At least I'm on the right track.

You could try and ask someone on this forum to mail you some live hopper mice until you find a regular supplier of rat pups
(but don't be surprised if they ask you for postage).

Rob Reiding.