Rat with a cold?

mrvarner · #1 (**permalink**) 10-26-2005, 06:31 AM

I got a medium rat for my new-to-me BP yesterday. Sissss took a pass on the rat last night, so now I have the rat in a critter keeper w/ food and water and newpaper strips. I keep hearing it cough or sneeze, though. I wonder if I should not plan on feeding her to my snake?

Otherwise my girl has been eating great. I plan to wean her over to f/t after she settles in here - hopefully. She's had live food her whole life...

Thanks,
Mark

DeadIrishD · #2 (**permalink**) 10-26-2005, 06:40 AM

buy some frozen rats, thaw them out and stick one in her hide (thats what I do for my boa.) they don't really need to much encouragement to feed F/T well mine didn't anyway.

or some F/T gerbils that may help, as thats what they eat in the wild, although they may become addicting.

louise · #3 (**permalink**) 10-26-2005, 09:40 AM

no it isnt okay to feed your snake a live rat if the rat is in perfect health or sick. live can kill your snake. please read this.

http://redtailboa.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15585

Heidi · #4 (**permalink**) 10-26-2005, 12:30 PM

I third, fourth and fifth the going straight to f/t. If he simply won't take a f/t rat then get a gerbil to scent the rat with. You can start off with the gerbil and then on the next feeding use the scented rat. If that doesn't work you can feed a small f/t gerbil followed directly with a small f/t rat. This is what I did with my BP when he went on a hunger strike and it did get him eating again. (I used fresh killed because I didn't have frozen suppliers at that time and I wasn't freezing my own--10+ years ago.)

mrvarner · #5 (**permalink**) 10-27-2005, 05:30 PM

Well, I tried fresh killed last night. I put the rat in with the snake until she started to move in on the rat and then removed it. I used the pillow case method to kill the rat and dropped the thing in with the snake. Didn't work. I wasn't crazy about killing the rat, but to have killed it only to put it in the trash is a drag.

To be fair this is not necessarily a case of my snake having refused fresh killed food. Maybe she just wasn't hungry. It's been 16 days since she ate. I haven't had her long enough to fully understand her needs. She's 3 years old and about 40" long.

louise · #6 (**permalink**) 10-27-2005, 06:14 PM

get tongs and dangle the rat for the snake and if that dont work just leave the rat with the snake all night. bet it is gone in the morning

Kent K25 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-27-2005, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrvarner

Well, I tried fresh killed last night. I put the rat in with the snake until she started to move in on the rat and then removed it.

Why did you remove the rat when the snake started to move in on it? Did I read that wrong? If the snake is moving in on it, it is probably interested in feeding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrvarner

To be fair this is not necessarily a case of my snake having refused fresh killed food. Maybe she just wasn't hungry. It's been 16 days since she ate. I haven't had her long enough to fully understand her needs. She's 3 years old and about 40" long.

If it's been 16 days your snake is ready to eat again

mrvarner · #8 (**permalink**) 10-27-2005, 09:31 PM

Louise, I did leave the unfortunate rodent in there overnight. It was still there in the morning.

She was interested in it, even wrapped around it loosely, but just never wound up eating.

I ordered a smaller rat and will try that next week.

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