View Full Version : won't eat rats!
Solid Snake
11-16-03, 12:58 AM
Are there other ways out there to get a stubborn feeder to eat rats? don't wanna chop up mice btw. isn't there another way?
is it safe to go off feed until it eats? lets say a month...
Derrick
11-16-03, 09:59 AM
my jcps didnt eat for 6+ weeks. One now eats rats(sort of) the other i got to eat a hopper mouse but she hasnt looked at a meal since and that was 2 weeks ago. so as far as 1 month with out foog i would have to say should not be a problem. Frankly I just wish I could get mine to eat anything on a rugular basis.
oh the one that has eaten a couple of rats I scented it with a mouse. I crushed up the skull on a hopper mouse between my fingers and squezzed some ooze on to the head and back of the mouse
Hey
Ahh looks like you've joined the ranks of tortured IJ keepers!
Okay, I won't get your spirits down yet, because some IJs do switch. If you check out my site, www.moreliaspilota.com there are a few ideas that might help you switch the snake.
Once again, not to get you down, but my IJ never switched, no matter what I did. I even sewed a mice carcas over a rat... I was not impressed when she knew something was up and didn't eat. :P
Zoe
Derrick
11-16-03, 03:13 PM
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareCarpet.html
there is some more tips.
We currnetly are keeping over 20 Ijs right now and most at some point needed to be switced over from mice. The number one best way we have found is to house a rat pup or thaw a rat in some dirty mouse bedding. If using live, we leave the rat pup overnight in the dirty bedding. Then about 5 minutes before offering the food, we take a pinch of the dirty mouse bedding and throw it in the snake's cage. Then we offer the scented rat pup.
Sometimes it works but other times it doesn't. Ultimately, this is the only way we do it and they all eventually turn over to rats. But if you are not willing to starve the snake a bit and are still going to get have it eat mice inbetween, then you are going to make it harder to switch over. They must be starved! We have had juvies go well over a month without food and then suddenly start taking scented rats with no issues. Then after several feeding like this, we try less scented ones until they feed on entirely unscented rats.
With the babies we hatch ourselves, we just simply do not offer anything but rat pinkies to start and this year 8 out of 10 eventually took them. The other two got skinyy and we broke down and gave them what they wanted (mice) a few times and then they too swithced to scented rats and then unscented ones.
Anyways...good luck!
-Yasser
Just thought I'd note, that last year I started my IJs on rats too. All but one took one, and that one didn't eat for a month or two. I finally offered a gerbil scented pink and he took it, and has since been a good eater. Never had to resort to mice.
BTW Yasser thanks for that method, I'll give it a shot, but I doubt it'll work!
Zoe
Why do you doubt?
-Yasser
because my ij is stupid piece of crap who likes to torture me by not eating. If she knows something is up, she won't eat. I've tried everything - including cutting open a mouse, removing the insides, boiling them and then soaking the rat in it (around which I sewed the remaining mouse carcass)
Zoe
Solid Snake
11-16-03, 10:48 PM
ew that sounds nasty!!!
dont think i could cut a mice up and sew it with a rat... im going to just starve him for a bit, until a month... if he doesn't i'll have to give him a few mice :(
CDN-Cresties
11-16-03, 11:21 PM
Starving him sounds kinda cruel to me man...
-Steve-
Far from cruel....snakes are built to withstand times when food is scarce in the wild. A month is nothing at all to them.
It is far more cruel to have to starve them when they are adults and you can't find enough mice to feed them.
But Zoe, you need to have faith that things are going to work.
Negative thoughts bring negative outcomes.
I know we have been able to switch many IJs and other python species with our aforementioned technique.
Good luck!
-Yasser
CDN-Cresties
11-16-03, 11:52 PM
Point well taken. :)
-Steve-
But Zoe, you need to have faith that things are going to work.
Negative thoughts bring negative outcomes.
Yeah, I know, but I think I kept my spirits up for pretty long. I've been through a lot of crap with this girl and I've pretty much given up. You don't want to know how many animals I've butchered (much to my father's dismay) to get her to take rats but it never works.
You want to take her and switch her? lol! I wish that were possible.. heck, I'd pay good money to anyone who switched her. Seriously.
Zoe
lordkovacs
11-17-03, 07:15 PM
hahaa... you do sound desperate zoe! i got no ideas other then putting mice hairs on the rats nose. worked for me once... good luck!
reverendsterlin
11-17-03, 07:30 PM
well same as I was going to suggest, putting your rat into a dirty mouse cage and letting him run around until whacking. I feel sure that opening and freezing a mouse to rub on your rat on would be much more appetizing than parboiled mouse flavor, the fresh blood/mucous will attract better than scent from cooking.
Jeff_Favelle
11-17-03, 09:14 PM
Best method is to feed the CRAP out of them until breeding, have her lay eggs, and then try Yasser's method. I never try to switch a mouse eater at this time of year. I don't care if I have to feed a female 200 mice before the breeding season. Its worth it. And after she lays, then get to work on the rats. No problems. People make a waaaay bigger deal out of it than it really is.
Jeff, she's not yet big enough to breed, that's the prob... I wasn't planning on cooling her this year since she's always so small.
Zoe
reverendsterlin
11-17-03, 09:47 PM
even better to go with multiple adult regular feeder sized until you get the weight factor.
Jeff_Favelle
11-17-03, 10:05 PM
Totally Rev. Old breeder mice can be HUGE and get her to nail 3-4 of those per sitting, 5 times a month and she should be breeding size at 18 months of age. Carpets can breed when they're tiny. Totally. People always try to get them up to 6 feet and 4 inches thick, but its just not necessary. They can have 12-16 eggs when they are 4 feet, no probs.
ranmasatome
11-22-03, 07:24 PM
Omg...Zoe...i'm so sorry that the method i suggested didn't work for you...it seems like you were pretty grossed out when you were doing it...lol...sorry..:)
also i thinks starving is no probs...i starved mine for a full 2mths b4 it finally succumbed and ate kind of a rat.. but then again i'm not breeding..so i had that luxury of time.
but yasser made a good pt. maybe i'll try that after some washing..and see how it goes.:)
Put your snake and the rat(dead) in a bag or a pillow and let him with the dead prey in the dark during the night.This tip work with many snakes like ball python or corn snake.
Solid Snake
11-27-03, 04:27 PM
DAMN i took a rat and dusted it with mouse bedding and he stuck at it and constricted it then he justed let go... DAMN!!!
Yup, they do it all the time. Gets your hopes up, doesn't it.
Zoe
Solid Snake
11-27-03, 09:18 PM
i'll let him go off feed for a month... if it fails, i may have to just feed it mice
daver676
11-27-03, 09:21 PM
Solid Snake,
Just for clarification (since I am currently attempting to switch my bp over to rats). How did you sprinkle the bedding? Did you crush it first then smear the rat with it, or did you just hold up the rat and sprinkle it with your fingers, or did you just dip it into some used bedding (uncrushed) a couple times?
ranmasatome
11-28-03, 10:11 AM
no worries Solid, as zoe said they do it all the time..
When i first tried the method that i told Zoe about...mine even ate the whole thing until the rat half and the regurgitated it all out again...it really frustrated me...then i let it starve for another month (total 2 mths) and then tried again..and this time it worked.
I tried the same thing again yesterday, after a month, without scenting the rat and he took it with less hesitation than the first time. i think the trick is just to somehow get them to eat that first part of the rat volunterily...then the rest is just gradual learning. Of course, that first part is the hard part...but i guess for some its easy...:)...will try yassers method 3 weeks down the road.
reverendsterlin
11-28-03, 03:05 PM
yep a WC hognose would not eat for me, 1 single gerbil pink eaten on it's own got her to suck down mice like they were potato chips
Solid Snake
11-28-03, 04:10 PM
what i did was i washed the rat with soap.
i didn't sprinkle it, i had a bag full of mouse bedding and i put the rat in there and shook it up. dangled the rat to the IJ and it struck and constricted it... then he let go :(
he's being starved right now... i feel sorry for it...
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