Re: What are some variables you may have changed for your finicky eaters?
I don't know if it'll make a difference now if you are switching to live feed, but my 2 cents on what helped to get my picky eater eating again was to blast some warm air onto the f/t mouse/rat and Louie has eaten every single item offered to her since! She skipped three feedings before I tried using a space heater (I don't have a hair blow dryer :P) and now he eats every time!! Hope this helps in the slightest bit possible!! Good luck! xx
Re: What are some variables you may have changed for your finicky eaters?
one little bit of advice that was a godsend to me and I have used to get my girl to eat every time without fail is a hot water bath of prey before feeds:
I fully thaw rat in room temp water for a few hours
5 minutes before feeding I run the hot tap and get it as hot as it will go (it won't be boiling!) and replace the rat water with fresh hot water
I leave it in the bath for 5 minutes right next to the tank
I get it out of the bath and give it a light dab off so it's not dripping wet
I sneak it into the tank and if I blink I miss the strike
This got my girl out of a three month refusal and she's never missed a feed since. Might be worth giving it a go especially as you're trying to get off of live feed. IMO warming up with a hairdryer is still going to leave that prey colder than a live mouse
Re: What are some variables you may have changed for your finicky eaters?
I have a female that was 560g and a live feeder when I got her, where I live, feeding live isn't an option as they are hard to get unless you breed your own so I only feed F/T, she didn't eat for just over 3 months but now I've got her switched she takes f/t with a bit of encouragement, offering her for 10-15min is usually what it takes, I dip the head in hot water for 20-30sec before offering and it usually gives me a pretty good response,
My advice would be to try her with live until she has some decent weight on her and then try switching her to frozen