I just love how they switch their tastebuds without warning.

I have been having mousers change to rat eaters and some of my rats eaters change over to mice only recently. What is odd is most of my rat eaters have never had a mouse in their life. How many if you have this happen? I am not worried at all it is just comical how they decide that they don't want one food or the other in a weekly feeding cycle. I have often wondered if they get tired of eating the same thing over and over again.

Mine will eat anything, except for the one that will only eat live rats.

I've fed them mice in the past but I don't offer them anymore. I get really irritated when I'm stuck dealing with a big fat old adult ball python that eats 5-6 mice at a meal but won't touch an appropriate sized rat.

Mine do that.

People laugh at me when I say they are picky. I have a low white pied male who loves mice. He only ever eats one though. Well, for almost three months he quit eating at all. he'd hunt the mouse, but never hit it. So, I decide what the heck and offer him a rat pup. Bang! In seconds he's got it and he was like, " Finally!"

So for three weeks in a row he got his rat pup and he wolfed them down like he was starving to death. Then last feeding day, I offer him another rat pup, which he wants nothing to do with. Not only that, he was so insulted by the rat, he refused the mouse I gave as a peace offering. So he gets to wait until next feeding day, and we'll try going back to mice. :sigh2:

He should be bigger than what he is, but this whole one mouse a week thing keeps him pretty small. I'm hoping since he finally is big enough to breed, a year later than he should have been, maybe that will perk his appetite a bit.

Gale

Why offer mice at all then?

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

Why offer mice at all then?

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Exactly, if you don't want them to eat mice, don't give them mice. Balls can go a long long long time without eating. Mine go thru periods where they won't eat and I just offer once a week till they do. The only change I am willing to make for them is to offer the rat hotter or smaller or bigger.

If they are hungry, they will eat. I find if mine won't eat for a while, the thing that will usually get them eating again is a BIGGER rat. It's like they don't want to waste energy eating a small rat.