I am so, so proud!

My male jungle carpet python was purchased at the Louisville, KY reptile show back in 2001. He was at least a yearling when we bought him and despite many efforts he never showed any real interest in eating rats. I tricked him into eating rats only twice by leaving the rat in a mouse tub so it would smell like the mice that had been in there.

Well, now that I'm no longer dealing with my old supplier and can't find anyone else selling mice at the price I was paying for them before, I've had to put Tess (the JCP) on a very staggered diet. His usual meal was 6-8 large adult mice and I will not pay retail prices on so many feeders. As a result, Tess went nearly 3 months with nothing to eat -- not that I didn't continue to offer him food in the form of rats when I was feeding everyone else. Tonight I stunned a rat and dropped it in a tub with him and, as usual, he began to stalk it and then balked once he realized what it was. I took it out and left him in the tub alone for a few minutes. The rat had sort of revived in that time and I decided to try again. I dropped the rat back into the tub and it staggered a few inches towards Tess and I guess that was enough to prompt the best feeder response I've seen out of him in years! With the mice, they were usually offered freshly killed and for a while he'd strike and coil them but as he got older he really couldn't do that anymore. He was huge and they were like M&Ms for him. He would just nom nom nom them and they'd disappear sideways into his mouth within moments and that would go on for several more mice during his feedings.

Anyway, he coiled the rat and I was worried that he'd just spit it out after he'd killed it because he'd remember that he didn't like rats (it has happened in the past that way and I didn't want to get my hopes up) so I closed up the tub, turned out the light in the room, and closed the door behind me and left him in the quiet and dark with his catch. I went back in about twenty minutes later and the rat was gone! I decided I'd try this again and offered him a freshly killed rat. He snatched it like a pro and down the hatch it went! A third rat after that and now his belly is actually full! Not just semi-full of mice, but actually full of rats! He acts as though he could take another but I'm cutting him off. I'll get him a bigger rat next time around and see how it goes.

I'm so happy about this turn of events, guys! This is going to make things so, so much simpler when feeding days roll around!

Yeah!!! Glad you were able to get him to start on rats!!

Congrats !!

Don't you love it when you get your snakes to feed on what you want them to?! LOL Tell your carpet to have a chat with my het albino female ball--frozen/thawed is good, frozen/thawed is good . . .

LOL Most of mine have a preference for fresh killed. If anything is even the least bit damp, my balls act indifferent towards it and I really don't like sitting on the floor with a tub of wet rats and a hair dryer. It's just no fun at all.

I have a couple of snakes that kind of freak out over fresh killed! My supposedly wild-caught corn snake has proven herself to be afraid of anything but a very limp, slightly damp, medium sized mouse. If it has blood on it, she will startled and hide! Snakes can be so funny sometimes...

Glad that your snake seems to be remembering his instincts...hehe.