When do i know that my ball python is ready for rats instead of mice

I have fed my snake dead mice since the day i bought it and he takes them with no problem. He is about 2 1/2 feet long right now. Should I take him up to rat pups first. let me know please.

If your ball python is already 2 1/2 feet long he should be ready for the switch to rat pups. Start with pups that are about the same size as the mice he is currently eating. Don't be surprised if he is a bit hesitant at first; rat pups smell different from mice, and snakes are very much olfactory driven feeders.

One trick that we have used when making the switch is to put the rat pups in with mice for a few minutes before feeding them to the snake. That gets him to associate the smell of the rat with the smell of mice, which he already knows to be a food source. After he has eaten a few of the "mousey smelling" rats he should start taking the rats as is.

One other thing I would recommend is that you not feed your snake in his home tank - remove him to a separate feeding box. A large, dark plastic bin with a tight lid (we use Rubbermaid bins) provides a secure, easy to clean feeding box. Ball pythons, being nocturnal, are more inclined to eat in the dark.

The other reason for feeding in a separate feeding container is so that he doesn't associate the opening of the tank lid with food. This learned behavior - reinforced by feeding in his home tank - might make him strike at the first thing he sees when the lid opens. More than a few novice snake keepers have complained to me about their "aggressive" snakes striking at them whenever they try to pick them up. This behavior is solely the fault of the keeper, not the snake.