Successful switch to F/T on adult female

[PweEzy]

So ever since I started pairing up my pastel girl, she has started to always seem hungry, as some others on here have suggested to me. Ever time I pull her tub she almost shoots out of it. Up til now she has only been interested in live rats but I decided that b/c of her behavior I might try to feed her a F/T and sure enough, she struck almost instantly and chowed it right down. Now I just hope her new found liking to F/T sticks with her after the breeding season! Anyways, just thought I'd share how it finally worked for me. Maybe an idea for others whose adults are stuck on live if you are wanting to switch em over! Hope it helps.

[cmack91]

my 5yr male just took his first f/t ever a couple days ago, every time before he would just go up to it, smell it for a couple minutes, and leave lol

[mpkeelee]

congrats. i love f/t, its so much easier. the only problem with switching that way is if the female doesnt eat still and cant put weight on for breeding, cuz im sure somewhere someone will still keep breeding her. they usually will eat anything you put near them during breeding so i hope she continues to eat and stays on f/t after the season for you.

[John1982]

An excellent tip! I find that playing some tug-o-war with a f/t is a good way to peak interest in problem feeders. Get a rat nice and warm and move it around to entice a strike. Once they're latched on some gentle shakes, twists, turns of the rodent usually results in further wrap-up and a stronger grip for the "kill". The trick is to get their instincts to take over until they get more used to f/t.

[PweEzy]

congrats. i love f/t, its so much easier. the only problem with switching that way is if the female doesnt eat still and cant put weight on for breeding, cuz im sure somewhere someone will still keep breeding her. they usually will eat anything you put near them during breeding so i hope she continues to eat and stays on f/t after the season for you.

Yea for sure, if she stops on F/T I'm fine with switching back to live, but I hope the F/T craze continues!

[Salamander Rising]

An excellent tip! I find that playing some tug-o-war with a f/t is a good way to peak interest in problem feeders. Get a rat nice and warm and move it around to entice a strike. Once they're latched on some gentle shakes, twists, turns of the rodent usually results in further wrap-up and a stronger grip for the "kill". The trick is to get their instincts to take over until they get more used to f/t.

Stupid question time:

My normal PetCo female, Iggy, eats like a harvest hand and couldn't care less about where she is when she eats.
She ate with great gusto in broad daylight on the counter of the local herp guy's store counter with people wandering in and out.
[rejoicing over her Blessed Gluttony! "ya wanna eat?" has become a ridiculous rhetorical question, now]

OTOH, I have a half year old male Fire who was raised on live and has NO interest in F/T even though I was told he had eaten F/T *once*.

Trying the "pre-killed" route went horribly wrong for both me and the mouse and I'm still recovering from the horror of that.

Tonight, as Iggy was scarfing down her second mouse, I let Spider watch her eating.
He was very interested, tongue darting like mad and straining to get near her [did not allow it....they're still living separate lives due to QT]

Can one snake watching/smelling another snake eating prompt them to eat the F/T, as well?

Or was he just interested in the Hot Little Mama he didn't know was living "next door"?
[he is producing plugs and "ready to go"...anybody got a female pastel for sale?]...

I really, really want to switch him because I cannot deal with the whole "live" issue.

In fact, my "feeder" mice now have a nice aquarium, nest boxes, bottles, rat chow, 'junk food' and I play with them often....they're 'not for eating', now, especially since I botched the unsuccessful 'humane pre-death' of their tank mate]

I've tried every trick imaginable listed here [and using 'live decoys' in his house, safely secured from his strike] and all he did was turn up his nose and lose 30 grams of weight.

I've got to make this work or I'm going to have nervous breakdown.

Could "envy", as it were, provoke him to eat the mouse I'm offering her?

Seriously, I'm desperate, here.

I love the guy and do not want to lose him but he has to adapt to F/T for the sake of my health.

I've even wondered about getting his mouth open a bit and stuffing the nose of a mouse in there, hoping he'd get the drift.