My corn snake Joe is over 2 years old, he is about 5 feet long, has always eaten great and is healthy. I have been feeding him 2 mice for awhile and started to give him a small rat instead. The first few times I did it he ate it without hesitation. On two different occasions when I fed him a rat he has not had anything to do with it. The first time he rejected it I waited a few days and then fed him 2 mice and he ate like normal.

All his life I have fed him in a separate white bucket and as soon as he goes in the bucket he knows what is coming, he eats like gang-busters and then I put him back in his tank and don't take him out for several days. I followed the same routine with the rat. The first time, I left him in the bucket with the rat for about 10-15 minutes before giving up and throwing the rat away. The second time, I gave up earlier. When I feed him mice he never hesitates a second before devouring it.

Is it possible that the rat smelled different or was bad or something? I don't think it was bad - I feed frozen, thawed mice/rats and have had him reject 2 different rats from different purchases.

I was trying to switch to rats because I was worried that giving him 2 mice wasn't as healthy for him as giving him one rat in a meal. When he eats the mice there is barely a bulge.

I typically feed him every 8-10 days.

Any advice?

He may just prefer mice to rats, or perhaps the rats had been re-frozen before you purchased them, and smelled 'off' to the snake... I routinely feed my large corns rats, but if I have too many mice laying around I'll double (or triple) up mice in place of a rat to thin out the 'herd'

Is there a health issue long term by feeding him mice instead of appropriately sized food? I would prefer to feed mice - I hate the rats.

I didn't realize that the food from a reputable place might be refrozen - seems like they would smell bad if that was done.

If he prefers mice you may not have a choice anyway
There is nothing wrong with feeding two mice, if that is what he wants to eat and isn't going to switch over then that is what you should feed him. If you are worried that it is not enough you could perhaps move down to a 7 day schedule.

I find that rats have a slightly sweeter smell to them, i know it sounds odd but thats what i find. If it doesn't want rat, don't worry about it. From what i hear it's normal for them not to take to a new menu, so two mice should be fine as long as it's not losing any weight and looks healthy.

Most people feed adult males one mouse every 10-14 days. I'd be careful about feeding multiple mice every 7 days---you're gonna get a very obese snake that way.