Frustrating champagne- problem feeder

This lil turd has been driving me nuts for months :rage: I've completed the switch to f/t rats since I've gotten him and he loves to take them. The problem is he'll attack the f/t rodents, strangle them and then abandon them about 90% of the time.

I make sure to get them nice and hot. I offer them and leave him for 10-15min to eat the rodent. If the rodent isn't eaten I'll reheat the rodent in warm water and he always takes it (heck he'll attack it if I even try to pick it up sometimes). I usually attempt this 2-3X per feeding. If by the third time he has abandoned it, I usually give up. I know he's very hungry, he attacks anything warm or rodent smelling on sight (feeders, hands and even the tongs).

I've tried switching between a fuzzy- pup sized rat to no avail. I've also cluttered his cage and covered it during feeding. He is hatchling size, eating just enough to maintain weight but not grow. Housed with my entire collection in a 28qt tub with 2 hides. Ambient temp is in the mid 70s, hot spot is 90*F.

At this point all I can think of is leaving the rodents overnight, trying frozen mice, or switching back to live (very much would like to avoid this). Anyways, any further advice/ideas would be much appreciated!

I would go back to live until it's eating on a regular basis. then try thawed again.


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I stick with live period.....................

That being said...... Maybe you are letting him kill it too quick??
When he coils use tongs to grab a leg or the tail and try to make it seem like the F/T is trying to free itself.
Giving him something to fight for might amp him up a little more.

I had the same experience a little while back but only with feeding live. My guy would kill them but wouldn't eat them. After a while, I'd heat up the mouse and he would strike and coil again but wouldn't eat.

I know most people will disagree about feeding in a seperate container, but try putting him in a much smaller, dark space when you feed him and see what happens. It worked for me. I put my guy in a small shoe box and he ate just fine.

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I feed all my ball pythons frozen thawed and I've never had a baby not switch over. When they take it and drop it there are two things I've done that seem to work pretty well. One is to hold onto the rodent and don't let it go right away and give it a few slight tugs before letting go so the snake feels like the rodent is trying to get away (what Pit said above). If this doesn't work try reheating the rodent and try again. For some reason they usually eat it the second time.

I do normally do the tug of war thing for a few seconds with all my snakes.

I'm going to try putting him a small dark box during feeding and try again, perhaps even use a frozen mouse. Worst comes the worst I'll give him a live mouse if he starts losing weight(which was previously his favorite thing in the world).

Thanks for the ideas guys :gj: