Big Mama Stopped Eating

Hey guys! So its finally happened... Bonnie my turbo feeder who would practically launch out of the tub to get her meals has flat out refused to eat. It's only the first week she has refused a meal, however, since she has NEVER even come close to refusing a meal I thought I would throw up a couple quick questions.

When do breeding females usually go off of feed? I know people talk about them gobbling up food to build weight, then they just quit, but when does that usually happen? Should I be looking out for her to be building or am I past that point now if she's saying no to food?

Do I continue to try and feed her every week and then just give refused food to snakes still pounding down the rats? My other two bigger girls are pounding down, but they have not been put with any males. Bonnie has been locking up consistently with Clyde every week.

My big female went off feed about 3 weeks ago, she has been paired since oct 1st. Not sure if that helps or not, haha. But hse never refused a meal before either. She is swollen in her lower region, and has been definitely building for a few weeks.

That's a good sign :). Still offer her a meal every week. It depends on the individual animal as to if/when they go off feed. I have girls that will refuse a few meals through out the season and some who stop eating for months. I'd definitely start pairing her up. If you can, try to palpate her and see if she's developing follicles.

She has been paired every week since late October. We began pairing Oct 24th, had our first lock the 25th. She has been paired every week on Monday since then as she and Clyde have continued eating consistently. I have never had her miss a meal and they have never failed to lock. So we have had roughly 8 successful locks since October.

She is definitely bigger lol. She's my big mama for a reason! I was just wondering if the going off feed is a precursor for something else in the breeding process. IE: If its a sign of ovulation, etc. I will continue to offer her meals. If she refuses I guess I will just give the rat to Sally instead, that way no rats are wasted if she turns down the meal.

Come on beautiful spider babies!! :)

Its more or less a sign of her building and preparing for the eggs. As the follicles grow larger she has less room in that big tummy of hers. I have some females that will eat right up until ov and then some that skip a week here or there as soon as they start building. I doubt you'll miss the ovulation. Those are pretty evident. Just keep offering and pairing. You'll see it. 😝


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Thank you for the help! As much as I have read and as many examples as I have seen, I am still afraid I am going to miss something. Like I will wake up one day and there will suddenly be a pile of eggs I wasn't expecting to see lol.