1000 g Wall - Thoughts

I have had two of my girls floating around the 1000-1100 gram mark since April - my Butter Pastel who will be 2 in December and my Sugar who will be 2 in March. Edging closer to breeding season, I've started thinking about their eating habits (or lack of) more than usual. They've both been on f/t since they were hatchlings, so that's what I've been offering every week. Since they're not losing much weight (50 grams at most since their last empty weight), I'm not concerned about their health. My Sugar's last meal was on July 12 and my Butter Pastel has been eating only once every three weeks or so since April. Not a long stretch of fasting by any means, but an annoying one for me given their timing.

Is there any reason that I should think about trying anything different for these girls? They're iffy for getting up to size this season, but since they have a chance I figured I'd ask. If you were in my shoes, would you try live for them even though they've been taking f/t pretty much their entire lives, or would you let them just do their thing like I have been doing and they'll eat when they're ready?

Thanks for your insight in advance!

Best regards,
Eric

Hello Eric,

It depends on a few factors if you really want to start feeding them live rats. If I were in your shoes... can you get live rats easily and for cheap? Are you already breeding live rats on your own? My pet store sells live rats at around 5-8 dollars for a small. I've been down that road where my females stopped eating. I usually dangle the frozen thawed in front of them. I thought I was fortunate to try other method but it seems to work once or twice. I left a frozen thawed over night and she took it after a few hours. Next morning it was gone! Thought that was the way to go but then afterwards she stopped eating for 2 months. Was pretty annoying so I tried live rats again and had no luck. I tried scenting the frozen and live rats with mice and that didn't work. So I've decided to try live mice and she chased it down like a hawk! Same with my pastel lesser male. He only ate like 2-3 times in my care. Since they both had live mice last week I'm going to try and use frozen mice and hopefully that triggers them to eat and then I'll offer a second meal to them right after. I will then try frozen rats as second meal and hopefully they would take it.
Try changing their environment like perhaps use different bedding. Stick with rats of coarse til all else fails.
Moving their position of rack level might help as well. Hope this make some kind of sense. It's getting late just got off work and I'm tired.

I feel your frustration. We've had a few do the same thing. One just started back up on F/t with no rhyme or reason as to why she stopped or why she started back.

Another one went over six months with only one rat small in the entire time. I ended up switching to live and she is hammering them without hesitation, and back on track to be breeedable this season. However, she will have nothing to do with F/T. I am hoping that she will return to F/T when she begins breeding and is really in need of food for folicle development.

The third one is doing like the second. She was off a couple months then took a F/T. Then went another month and a half then took a F/T. She has now missed the last two weeks. I even tried a live with her in the middle of this and she showed no more interest then with the F/T. I don't think she will make it this season unless something drastically chnages.

If you are asking my opinion about what you should do, I would say this. What is more important to you? Is it breeeding them, or having them eat what you want them to eat. If it is the later, then just stay the course until they begin eating again and breed when they are ready. Just monitor their weghts to make certain you don't let them get too malnourished.

If breeding is the most important thing to you then you may want to try different food items to see what they will take and then continue feeding them that as long as they will take it.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide.