lil head syndrome advice please

[bam_bam]

hey all the python that is in my care for now in my opinion has a little head which i know is common this python eats very well on mice but the problem is mice arnt big enough and he wont touch a rat (maybe the scent) he has eaten a rat pup b4 i was maybe thinkin of gettin another one and letting it grown abit bigger than a full grown mouse and try that hopefully work my way up to full grown rats any advice or tips that have proven succesful would be most welcome thanks all

[MrBredli]

Oops, you forgot these: ................

Try feeding a rat right after he has eaten a mouse.

[pythoness]

more info needed bambam, what kind of python? what age? do you have pix of it to show? an over fed snake can get pin head, which is where the body grows quicker than the head, those snakes can be more suceptible to fatty liver disease, which can kill snakes. don't over feed if you think the head is too small for the body, as power feeding will make it worse. you could slow feeding right down and wait for the head to catch up to the body. but more info would be good to give solid advice

[bam_bam]

ok female darwin carpet python about 3 years old easily 4 to 4 anda half foot in lenth eats once weekly or fortnightly has anything from 2 to 5 mice each sitting

[Slateman]

I think that the reason why she eat only mice is not the head size. Snakes sometimes develop taste for certain pray and don't like to take other options.
I have one coastal 3 year old and he don't like to take anything than mice.
If I don't feed him for couple of months, he take rat , but you can see that he is not happy.

Try to tie mouse to head of juvenile rat with cotton string. Make sure that you do good job and snake can't separate the mice from rat and let me know what happen.

[pythoness]

ok so if you feel she might have pin head, i would put her on a diet for about 3-6 months, feed her nothing, and it should give her a chance for the head to catch up a bit, also you will prob find she will take rats after a bit of a starve, and it wont do her any harm at all, infact a good fast would be good for her esp this time of year. pix might be helpfull in diagnosing pin head, i'm no expert, but there should (will) be someone here who knows a fair bit more than me

[bam_bam]

so tie a mouse to a baby rat firmly with cotton and see if he eats it whole?

Yes

[pythoness]

i would be very dubious about putting cotton in your snakes food, it could get wrapped around the stomach and kill your snake, ( no offence slateman) try giving her a live velvet rat pup, they can't refuse them, but if your worried about small head, i'd give her a starve. (as always, just mho)

[bam_bam]

thats what i was thinking get a rat pup alil bigger than a mouse starve her and see if she eats it

[MrBredli]

You shouldn't have to starve her. Give her a couple of weeks off then feed her a mouse. As soon as she's finished swallowing the mouse offer her the rat. She will still be very excited and with the smell of the mouse still around she should take the rat. Try scenting it with a mouse also to improve the chances of her accepting it. Do this a couple of times and she will quickly learn to recognize the scent of a rat as food, and she should begin to take rats on their own.

[bam_bam]

my cousin said to do that i will try it mrb cheers mate jkeep the advice coming lol it all helps

[bam_bam]

my cousin said to do that i will try it mrb cheers mate jkeep the advice coming lol it all helps he also said worse cmes to worse cut open a mouse and boil it a thin layer wil boil to the top he said use it to rub over the rat but if anyone see's me doin that they will think i eat dogs aswell

[pythoness]

mrB, the starving isn't for the getting onto rats, but for the suspected pin head to give the head time to catch up to the body

[junglemad]

if it eats mice feed it mice...no problem

[MrBredli]

But how's the head going to grow if it is not eating anything? I would suggest smaller and less frequent meals rather than nothing at all.