Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have my baby green coming in 3 days. I believe it is 3 months old or so. The owner told me it feeds on live mice, yet I would prefer to feed it F/T rats instead. As you have mentioned rats have far more nutrients than the mice, which is indeed true. I am thinking of leaving the conda alone for a whole week and just observing its behavior for a while. Do you think I have a good shot at making it accept thawed rats (small size) over the fact that it has been eating live mice from the day it was born? It is a male anaconda and I want him to grow big and strong and I have no intentions on watching it constrict live prey plus I dont want mice to be a part of his diet. My thrill of watching live prey constricted has came to a stop after ownership of a boa constrictor took me 2 years to realize that F/T food is less expensive and readily available with no hassle. Well what do you conclude of all this and what do you know is best at this age for a green anaconda? Thanks

If it's 3 months old it's probably pretty small and could take f/t rat pups, most neonates can. Most condas are pretty picky eaters, and are pretty precise to what they will eat, but... In most cases if it is eating rodents, you have a lot better chance of getting it to eat f/t rodents. There usually isn't any problem switching from mice to rats for the most part, some cases it is, but not usually. You should have an alright shot of switching over to f/t in my opinion, there are so many tricks to use also that it makes it a lot easier. When you get it and the first time feeding it, I would leave the f/t rat and the conda alone in the dark for awhile, just like I have said in the few other posts I have put in. If it doesn't take it, then there are a lot of other options, but also, it could take a couple of weeks to get it going. Just depends, but good luck!
~Ben