from mice to rats...

froggystyle34 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-21-2002, 08:41 AM

hey guys how do i go about getting my king snake to eat rats??? my new big corn sniffed and moved away, then i wiggled the rats tail and wham he took it like a champ, my big king though has nothing to do with it, he sniffs and leaves like he is scared. i put the rat int he bag with three frozen thawed mice to scent the rat nothing. it is like she doesnt know what it is. well after leaving them two for an hour i just threw the three mice in and let her go to town with them. well any ideas would be greatly appreciated. the kingsnake has been with me since two weeks old and has never been fed live so she has never been bitten by live. i tried before and she went off feed for 8 weeks. well like i said any help would be appreciated

froggy

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LdyDrgn · #2 (**permalink**) 11-21-2002, 08:49 AM

I have heard that using shed skins from other snakes to put the rat in helps...like a rat sausage...LMAO [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img] King snake is probably holding out for corn [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]
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#3 (**permalink**) 11-21-2002, 02:42 PM

Moved to the feeding forum...
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JuliusSqueezer · #4 (**permalink**) 11-21-2002, 05:37 PM

Some snakes just have a preference and you can't always do anything about it.
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#5 (**permalink**) 11-21-2002, 07:00 PM

My corn snake is like that for me. I got him from Hisba last April and she had switched him to rat pups about a month or so before I got him. I had the damnedest time getting him to eat at all the first month or so. I finally got him to eat a couple fuzzie mice. Now, he won't barely sniff an appropriate sized rat. Shoot, even with mice he can be picky at times for no apparent reason.

As gross as it sounds, maybe gutting a mouse and rubbing the entrails and all that good stuff on a smaller rat will work. Then when it's comfortable with rats, you can move up to an appropriate sized rat.
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JuliusSqueezer · #6 (**permalink**) 11-21-2002, 07:47 PM

snakes are weird.
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sartori · #7 (**permalink**) 11-24-2002, 12:32 PM

some never do switch over..

a trick i picked up for my "picky" kings and corns is to toss in a mouse first.. get em in "food mode".. then drop in the rat.. and 9 outta 10 times.. WHAM they are all over it..

theres no law that says they wont do just fine on a diet of mice only tho.. so no sense in beating a dead horse if they simply refuse..

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