Resorting to live?

[Jeo123]

So my girl's been refusing her food again lately. She hasn't actually eaten since early august. She's been on f/t rats since early this year(she's was on f/t mice before that and the change happened back in march). I know last year she did the same thing and didn't eat from november until february, but starting in august seems a little soon for a winter fast, not to mention dangerous.

I'm considering trying live, but the only live I can get would be live mice that are a bit smaller than the rats she's been eating. More importantly, I'm worried that if I get her eating live, she won't ever go back to f/t.

Should I try live, or just ride out her hunger strike?

[snakesRkewl]

If you're not breeding her this coming season and she's not under weight I'd probably continue as you are and attempt f/t feedings if your worried about her liking live too much.
If she gets to be under weight you'll want to do what it takes to get her eating again since it's already been 2 months and break down and feed live.
If the size of mice are too small just feed her one and after it's gone offer another one.

[adamsky27]

Personally I wouldn't go to live yet. Do you warm the rats up before you feed? My water in the house gets so hot that you literally will get burnt if you leave the hot on and put your hand under it. I place a f/t rat in a Ziploc bag and run the water super hot. I fill a bowl and put the rat (that is in the bag) in the bowl and let it get nice and warm. All of my bp's have taken f/t this way, even my full grown adults that were on live.

[Jeo123]

I use the water trick as well. I put the rat in a bag to keep it dry, squeeze out the air as best I can, then put that in another bag and fill that with hot water. Leave it there for about 25-30 minutes, then drain and refill the bag with the water on pure hot to get the temp up(Pure hot the entire time makes for bad thaws and bloody rats i found). I use the bag instead of a bowl because the bags float and you get a hot/frozen side thing going unless you constantly flip it.

I'll sometimes try putting the rat on top of the cage under the heat lamp after to scent the tank a little, but nothing's been working lately.

[adamsky27]

I use the water trick as well. I put the rat in a bag to keep it dry, squeeze out the air as best I can, then put that in another bag and fill that with hot water. Leave it there for about 25-30 minutes, then drain and refill the bag with the water on pure hot to get the temp up(Pure hot the entire time makes for bad thaws and bloody rats i found). I use the bag instead of a bowl because the bags float and you get a hot/frozen side thing going unless you constantly flip it.

I'll sometimes try putting the rat on top of the cage under the heat lamp after to scent the tank a little, but nothing's been working lately.

I usually flip the rat when the water gets to room temperature, and I fill the bowl back up with super hot water. This way the rat is warmed on all sides.

[mandalorian]

I use the water trick as well. I put the rat in a bag to keep it dry, squeeze out the air as best I can, then put that in another bag and fill that with hot water. Leave it there for about 25-30 minutes, then drain and refill the bag with the water on pure hot to get the temp up(Pure hot the entire time makes for bad thaws and bloody rats i found). I use the bag instead of a bowl because the bags float and you get a hot/frozen side thing going unless you constantly flip it.

I'll sometimes try putting the rat on top of the cage under the heat lamp after to scent the tank a little, but nothing's been working lately.

Have you tried the hair dryer method on a completely thawed rat/mouse? Been doing this for several years on my adult bp and now my pastel and jcp are on it. I use a plastic tupperware/butter tub and get the rat good and hot especially around the head. Hit it with my temp gun then dangle it with tongs. The balls strike immediately but sometimes have to do the zombie dance for the jcp.

[Munizfire]

I use the water trick as well. I put the rat in a bag to keep it dry, squeeze out the air as best I can, then put that in another bag and fill that with hot water. Leave it there for about 25-30 minutes, then drain and refill the bag with the water on pure hot to get the temp up(Pure hot the entire time makes for bad thaws and bloody rats i found). I use the bag instead of a bowl because the bags float and you get a hot/frozen side thing going unless you constantly flip it.

I'll sometimes try putting the rat on top of the cage under the heat lamp after to scent the tank a little, but nothing's been working lately.

What do you mean by bad thaws? I think I might have over heated my rat last nite. What are some ways to know that I overheated?






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[Jeo123]

Overheating in water seemed to lead to weaker cell structures... aka exploding rats. Nothing grosser than doing a zombie dance only to have the guts fall out.

[Munizfire]

Ok, I overheated then... LOL






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[Daybreaker]

I use the hair dryer method along with prescenting around the tub - I have one spider who won't eat any other way and I had success with this with my newest addition: an adult female. I just hold the feeder in a paper towel and use the hair dryer to blow the scent towards the tub (I usually crack the lid a bit or if you have a pull out tub in a rack system just inch it out a little) and that makes them a little more excited if they can smell if before it's actually right in front of them. When they're out about searching for the smell instead of staying in a curled ball that's a good sign that they'll most likely take it!