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EastCoastSwag

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I am new with BP. Now I had mine for bout 6 months. He eats little live mice. Now my question? How do get him to to start to eating rat? And how can I get him bigger or do I have to be just patient? Thank you
 
Try giving him a rat pup. general rule for new people is to feed them meals that are as big around as they are ( girth) slightly bigger is fine as long as you have proper heat for digestion, too cool and you risk your snake regurgitating its meal. Frozen thawed dont bloat as much as live, which also really helps. If your snake wont eat them right off, you can try scenting with mice to make it smell like mice, but i would just try feeding the rat pup first and go from there. There are all sorts of tricks to get them to eat different foods. Some require those tricks, some dont. Good luck!
 
Getting your snake bigger? He will grow, in time. Weekly feeding, or sometimes a couple feedings in a week help with this. If you are feeding too small meals, your snake will grow slower. Appropriately sized meals help them grow the best. Some people feed vigorously during the young growth stages, research a little more and you will learn a lot in regards to feeding and schedules.
 
I would just try a rat during his next feeding. If he refuses, do not feed him and wait another week and try again. If he refuses again, I will leave the live, young (2-2.5 weeks old) rat in there overnight. If he refuses I would wait one more week and try scenting. I have tried scenting the rat with either mice litter or a snipet of mouse hair. If he refuses again I would feed him a mouse and then offer a rat after the mouse has been eaten. Do not force it in his mouth, just offer about 3-5 minutes after he takes down the mouse. Their feeding response is still high and they will often just strike. I have had the most luck with this method.

As for getting bigger quicker, I would take it slow.
 
I have tryed f/t mine and he will nt eat it @ all. But once I put a live one n there he ate it real well. Now how would I get him off of live and on too f/t? Or is it impossible?
 
Not impossible, but difficult in some cases. Snakes are very stubborn and like their routine. Patience is key when moving a snake over from live to f/t. I'm lucky all but 1 of my snakes eat f/t. Goodluck!
 
The process I follow is usually live mice to f/t mice to f/t rats.

I've had great success converting to rats by defrosting my rat with the mouse. Then I warm them both up together and rub the rat on the mouse to thourally scent it. Usually by the third feeding they will take the rat instead of the mouse. I then follow up after the rat is well swallowed with a smaller f/t rat unscented. Be sure the f/t rat and mouse are warm through-out and not cold inside. Temps around 102 are good.
 
EastCoastSwag said:
I have tryed f/t mine and he will nt eat it @ all. But once I put a live one n there he ate it real well. Now how would I get him off of live and on too f/t? Or is it impossible?
Click to expand...

it might not have been warm enough to give a good heat signature. It should be a little warm to touch. If you get it too hot, they can explode as a snake coils on them. I find that sometimes I have to do a little longer of a "zombie dance" with the f/t to get them to take.
 
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