JCP not eating; Part II

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

I will say that Jungles WILL starve themselves if they are only offered something they will not eat. I kept many jungles about 10-15 years ago and only 2 would eat rats. I tried every trick in the book and they just prefer mice. If you can get yours to eat scented rats, I would suggest you keep doing that. Otherwise, be prepared to feed only mice. Good luck.

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Brandon, did you ever try live rats and did they take them?

How many mice did you feed and how often would you feed to adult males?

Brandon, this is an established carpet that has been eating rats for quite some time. I believe Matt knows how old he is, but I can not recall off the top of my head.


A baby jungle stuck on mice will usually not go to rats unless you scent or do other nasty tricks like using mouse blood, brains, ect.

He's a CBB '04 male that had a mixed diet of rats and mice.

This is what is surprising me, that he won't take rats in my care.

I'll give you a quick sample of the feeding records I got from the previous keeper:

01-27-08: ate 1 sm rat
02-02-08: refused to eat
02-10-08: ate 1 med rat & 3 mice - heated
02-17-08: refused to eat
03-02-08: 1 mouse 1 rat (heated)
03-18-08: live hopper mouse 2
03-19-08: f/t rat 2
04-12-08 f/t rat
05-21-08: 3 small rats

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Originally Posted by DutchHerp

Brandon, did you ever try live rats and did they take them?

How many mice did you feed and how often would you feed to adult males?

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I tried everything....live, frozen thawed, fresh killed. If they are not started early on rats, they usually will not accept them as they grow.

As for feeding mice, it depends on the animal. Males could probably be fed 3-6 mice every other week depending on their size. I had a couple of very large females that would go through 10 jumbo mice a week. That is what sucks about mouse feeding carpets, and it's one reason I sold my carpets to work with more chondros. Plus, chondros are not a flighty or aggressive.

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

I tried everything....live, frozen thawed, fresh killed. If they are not started early on rats, they usually will not accept them as they grow.

As for feeding mice, it depends on the animal. Males could probably be fed 3-6 mice every other week depending on their size. I had a couple of very large females that would go through 10 jumbo mice a week. That is what sucks about mouse feeding carpets, and it's one reason I sold my carpets to work with more chondros. Plus, chondros are not a flighty or aggressive.

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Since I don't have a small collection (yet) I'm not selling this guy... and he's not aggressive, but sometimes a little flighty when he doesn't want to come out of his cage. I got a bonus point there :)

Dutch, I'm a little concerned about your feeding. Instead of seeing if he'll gorge himself, let him take one small and then leave it to the next week so he will be more hungry. I try to feed one food item, and if you under feed it's okay because it will just make him more likely to hit a medium the next week (or 2 depending on your feeding.)

Trust me Dutch, I see no reason why this guy will not go back to rats. He knows they are food and not an enemy. When I offer rats my carpets just strike them repetitively as though it was hurting them. If he's seeming interested at all just stick with it.

David, that feeding chart I posted was not mine. It was the previous keeper's feeding records.

So far I've only offered him small rats once a week, never more.

I'll continue doing this, every week or every other week.

What are you feeding the balls? I thaw one mouse for mine and get the ones I'm not sure will eat first then move onto the ones that eat every week. If you're feeding you balls rats then just thaw one for for them and try him first. Be sure to keep us updated. A big male like yours can strike for months so if he hasn't taken a rat on his own in 4 or 5 more weeks we'll change tactics. Hopefully Brandon agrees with this.

I couldn't agree more with him about mice, except you're guy isn't a baby. I have the jag and the other carpet you saw, they only eat mice. It's all they every will, I'm pretty sure of it.

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Originally Posted by DavidG

What are you feeding the balls? I thaw one mouse for mine and get the ones I'm not sure will eat first then move onto the ones that eat every week. If you're feeding you balls rats then just thaw one for for them and try him first. Be sure to keep us updated. A big male like yours can strike for months so if he hasn't taken a rat on his own in 4 or 5 more weeks we'll change tactics. Hopefully Brandon agrees with this.

I couldn't agree more with him about mice, except you're guy isn't a baby. I have the jag and the other carpet you saw, they only eat mice. It's all they every will, I'm pretty sure of it.

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That's exactly what I do. I thaw at least one rat and one mouse first. The rat is intended for my normal male BP, which is first offered to my JCP. If he seems really interested, I use the mouse to scent the rat. This is what happened the first time and he took it.

He usually seems a little interested, so I keep scenting the rats.

When he doesn't take the rat, I just give it to my Ball and he annihilates it.

I'll definitely keep you guys updated, I'll offer him a rat every weekend.

Thanks again,

If it doesn't work in a few weeks skip a week or two. Make him think he won't get fed it he won't eat. Might up his prey drive. With a big carpet that's on rats already you could probably do a mouse then a rat while he's in hunt mode. That's a little further down the line than something I'd be trying at the moment.