Defrost feeding advice

[tombola]

Good evening guys.I was just wondering if any of you guys had any tried and tested ways of getting picky royals to move from live or fresh killed rats onto defrost rats.
I know its a subject thats probably been brought up alot but i cant see any info on here.
It would be interesting to hear what you guys do to get them onto defrost.
Cheers

[JoshJP7]

The main thing that has worked for me is using a feeding tub. All my snakes know when they go in this particular tub its feeding time. Ive gotten 4 babies this yr that were all on live before they got to me and all 4 now eat F/T with no problems... Other methods are the dead rat dance... just move it around to get the snake to think its alive and prescenting the room so they get the smell of food before you offer.

[xdeus]

Usually it helps if your snake has a really good feeding response which means getting your snake into feeding mode before placing a F/T rat in front of its nose.

You can do that by waiting for its normal feeding time... around an hour after sunset. You can scent the room about 30 minutes before feeding time with the F/T rat under a lamp. I think the biggest hurdle is just getting your snake used to eating a rat from tongs so you may have to to a little mime-work with the rat to pretend it's still alive. Try to mimic the behavior of a live rat in the tub. Some snakes will hit it immediately even before you open the cage all the way, and others may need a little more coaxing and rat theatrics.

Good luck!

[tombola]

Cheers for the fast responses.I normally dont have any problems getting royals onto df but this one i have is very picky.She will eat live no probs and even when i dangle a pre killed one in she strikes at it like a snake posessed.She isnt a hatchling shes a couple of years old but has just never taken df.im just worried that she may never learn.Has any one else had this issue?
The crazy thing is if i leave a df day old chick she will eat them no problems.I have tried the usual scenting,wiggling ect but with no luck.

[JoshJP7]

I got a picky pastel female who actually ate FT for me a couple times when i first got her then went on strike... ever since its been a lost cause trying to convert her over... every thursday i head to the pet store for that jerk

[dr del]

Hi,

Does she show any intrest at all in a df rat/mouse if you rub it with a chick and leave it in the tub overnight?

If your stomach can take it splitting open a chick and smearing it on the rat might be worth trying - but not pleasant.


dr del