When to give up and call her a mouser.

Well, my girl hasn't eaten since Easter. Why? My supplier was sold out of rats so I had to give her 3 mice. Ever since then, she's back to refusing rats. She's about 9-10 months old and is at 657g. My husbandry hasn't changed and nothing is different otherwise. Considering she's not even a year old yet, how long should I wait until I give into her?

She still acts hungry and is very unenthusiastic until she smells the thing. Right now, it's basically a game of who's more stubborn.

Be more stubborn ;) Ive switched back an forth between mice and rats with my smaller balls when I first started breeding rats. I feed live tho so idk if you uses frozen or live.

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Originally Posted by carlson

Be more stubborn ;) Ive switched back an forth between mice and rats with my smaller balls when I first started breeding rats. I feed live tho so idk if you uses frozen or live.

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Yeah I feed frozen, so I even leave it in there over night for her, and she still doesn't take it.

She lost 10g between this week and last week. And I was really wondering when this fast would become unhealthy.

Have you tried scenting the rat with mouse? I have one whos a mouser he eats them good so I figure I can deak with one mouse eater.

myself if i know they will eat, just not what i am offering them, i hold them out. both my stinger bee female and mojave spider male gave me the same issue, cooled them down for 2 months then brought them back up, now they both are pounding rats now without hesitation.

If she's eating multiple food items at a sitting, give her a mouse for her first meal then as soon as it's been swallowed follow up with a rat.

My Calider is 850+ grams and has only ever consumed ONE rat. She is a dedicated mouser.

I have not pushed her too terribly hard to switch because I want her to continue to grow. When I get back I may be more aggressive to get her to make the switch, but to be honest I am happy she while eat at all.

I've never had a "mouser" before. All my Balls have been on ft rats and mice from about a year old or so. If tough love dose not work, try to wash a rat with non scented soap and rinse real well, then roll it around a bit in a bag with a mouse.

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Originally Posted by AdamM

I've never had a "mouser" before. All my Balls have been on ft rats and mice from about a year old or so. If tough love dose not work, try to wash a rat with non scented soap and rinse real well, then roll it around a bit in a bag with a mouse.

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I don't think soap is a good idea....:O

Dude if you have a snake on f/t that will only eat mice, f/t or not, that's what a mouser is.

Thanks for all your input guys. Next week I'll think I'll try the tip about feeding a mouse first and then a rat right after. (Considering the rat is a little below 15% her body weight. I'll also thaw them in the same bag so the rat will get scented as well. We'll see.

I'm still curious what would be a healthy fast for a snake her size. (640g now). Just so I know when to stop trying. It's already about about a month, is it safe to go for two?