Picky olive python wont take rats

[Taekw]

Hello everyone. I am a frequent reader but a first time poster. I have an olive python about a year and a half old now who will not take grown rats or mice. She took rat pinks as a baby, but refuse adult rats. She was on rabbit kits for a while. ( she never denied a rabbit kit, but i can no longer find them). For a few months She also took rats scented with quail meat, but now she rejects quail scented rats. She likes to come up to the front of her cage smell the food then moves away disappointed.

I was wondering about those quail scented dog training oils, but do not know if they are safe to be ingested.

Does anyone have any advice on getting an olive to eat rats? She also does not constrict her food.

 

[adderboy]

Persist. Try a few different things - eg soaking a rat in water with a few day-old chicks, just to make sure the scent "sticks". Make sure the rodent is the right size for your snake, offer food at different times of the day/night, etc.

All of this is presuming the enclosure temps are sufficient. You should have a basking spot in the mid-thirties, plus a cooler end.

I guess the other thing to do is cease offering food which is not available consistently. As you've discovered, this can lead to problems. I had an olive that loved rabbits, then I couldn't get them any more and it took a while to convert her to rats, but in the end she switched. Luckily she was a pig, as are most olives. So unless your snake is starting to look worryingly skinny, just persist with various tactics and sooner or later I think she'll start taking them.

S