How to switch from mice to rats??

[BuBLeS]

I have a 3yr old female jungle python she is a fussy eater an will only eat mice I have tried defrosting all different size rats with mice too get the scent and have tried not feeding her for 4weeks and then offering her a rat but still no luck.. Closest I have got is she grabbed one only once that had been defrosted with a mouse but the second she sunk her teeth in just spat it straight out.
And my male is eating rats no worries but because there so much bigger than mice he is just getting bigger and looks very nice an healthy, where as she is growing alot slower and Just looks very thin I've been feeding her 2extra large adult mice every 10days I also don't want the size difference between them to be to big.
Is there any other ways I can try get her onto rats??

 

[D3pro]

I personally try scenting, where I rub a wet mouse on a rat then try feeding it... or if that doesn't work, I do chain feeding, where a small mouse is given and then a rat right after while the snake is still finishing off.
Sometimes you need to back right off when they latch on a rat.

Good luck

 

[BuBLeS]

Yer I have tried scenting a fair few times an hasnt worked so far I'll try the other way thow haven't done that yet. An what you mean back off when feeding the rat??

 

[D3pro]

Yer I have tried scenting a fair few times an hasnt worked so far I'll try the other way thow haven't done that yet. An what you mean back off when feeding the rat??

Don't let the snake see you. Also feed her at night when she's most active.

 

[BuBLeS]

Oh she only hand feeds she won't even take it from any body except me an I don't think I've ever fed her at night so I'll try that too

 

[Wrightpython]

While she is swallowing mouse put rat on her . Scent it first with mouse even to the point of cutting mouse and smearing blood etc . When she has finished mouse she will be looking for the second mouse that you normally give her and hopefully she will get confused and take rat. ive also seen people cut head of mouse and rat and stitch mouse head onto rat body but i reckon thats a bit hard but might be worth try

 

[BuBLeS]

That might be the go smearing the blood on the eat I'll try next tim I feed her thanks

 

[user 16446]

Get a pinkie rat and dress it in an adult mouse suit.

 

[chamm37]

my 12 month old childreni was the same at first. He struck the rat and held onto it for about 45min before he found the head and started to eat it but he took his time in doing so for the first time. Now you blink and it is gone he loves them. Oh also i walked away and was just watching him from a distance but couldnt see me so that might have helped in the process but hopefully your snake will be the same as mine and smack them everytime after the first

 

[jinjajoe]

a very very wise white haired man once showed me that if you get the finest 'used' mouse litter ie highly stinkin' of mice urine etc & then run a rat in that litter for an hour or 2 then presto..... works 9 times out of 10.......

difficult if you don't breed rats & mice tho but everybody that keeps snakes usually knows somebody who does......

 

[leamos]

I've heard you can tie a fuzzy rat onto the back leg or tail of an adult mouse with a short length of cotton, poke a small hole in the lower jaw of the rat and tie to that so when the mouse is going down the nose of the rat feeds right into the snakes mouth. Never tried it myself as scenting has always worked eventually for me but might be worth a try

I had a major issue getting my jungle to progress from fuzzy to hopper rats, i ended up having to find really large fuzzies and very small hoppers and that semed to get her over her 'fur' phobia

Good luck with it all it's a very frustrating process but be patient and resist the temptation of pulling your hair out over it

 

[BuBLeS]

She is very funny little girl I have no problem getting her too eat fur as she eats 2 extra large adult mice every feeding without fail an takes them straight out of my hand it's just the rat she won't eat but I will try a few of the ways suggested hopefully I have some luck have been trying too get on them nealy every feeding before I give in an give her a mouse because my male eats the rats no problem. But she won't eat anything I leave in the tank or off any one besides me she is a lil mummy's girl personality

 

[Gruni]

Funnily enough I was just at a mates place who had the same issue with a mature carpet python and said he took a smallish rat and left it lying for a few minutes in the tub with some dead mice and did this for a few feeds and she now happily takes the rats. She is big enough to eat half a dozen or so mice in one sitting so really needed to get onto rats but was quite fussy at first and just wouldn't touch them.

 

[BuBLeS]

Yep that sounds like my little one she only eats 2 mice in one feeding at the moment but want too get her on rats because my male in the same tank is eating rats an up until the last couple months he has been getting alot bigger very quickly an just don't want him ending up too much bigger than her an I want too get her size up so I can have a first attempt of breeding them in the next 12months an want too make sure she has some decent weight an size on her first

 

[solar 17]

l must be missing something here, why not feed two mice every five days and stimulate her appetite a bit more as imo you have 3-4 months max. left of this eating season for "most" snakes.
ONE other point as this thread just repeats a lot of others on this site, a lot of jungles take/need a lot of trickery to switch over (mice to rats)....jungles like bredli have two good starting points, as both are climbers, perches both these species love to eat from branches/perches and access to 34+ degrees.
.....solar 17 (baden)

 

[BuBLeS]

Yes I new jungles could be tricky too switch over but the only thing I new was too scent the rat with a mouse and have tried it every feeding just about since I switched the male over but just doesn't seem too work so just wanted too find out some other ways too try see if I get some better luck.. And I have been feeding her 2mice (biggest size I can get) every 10days as she will very rarely eat any earlier than 10 days after her last feed, an will not at the moment eat more than 2 per feed. Why I want her on rats so badly is because my male she shares a tank with is feeding on rats and in the last few months got alot started too get alot bigger and I would like too keep the size difference between them close as possible..

 

[s0041464]

Hey,
my yearling jungle was fussy and would only take mice.
i wasted a few fuzzy rats on her. After I reading the advice on these forums, I thawed a pinky rat with an adult mouse. I offered the rat first and after a few inquisitive tounge flicks, she took it. I gave her the mouse after, which ended up being a lot of food. She hid for a week or so, then had a shed, then a poop, so didn't feed for about 3 weeks. Tonight all I did was rub a frozen rat on a mouse a few times, thaw the rat by itself and wouldn't u know it? She hit it like lightning.

So, thanks for the advice anyone reading this!

 

[leamos]

Have you tried scenting the rat with a day old chick or quail? Jungles are very fond of food of the feathery variety, might make a difference