Won't eat F/T

I'm just kind of wondering at what point have you or should I stop trying to feed F/T? I have 1 snake that will eat F/T left over night. I have one guy that will sometimes eat F/T and one guy that will scoot the F/T into the corner furthest away from where he hangs out usually. I've tried leaving all over night I've tried waiting a week between attempts and nothing has been working for me... Live they all go crazy for but F/T is easier to keep, less work on my part, cheaper, and just all around better so trying to convert is pretty huge for me.... Any tips? suggestions? or when do I just give up F/T?

Here's my f/t story for ya in a nutshell...

All of my snakes were on live prey for the first few months. Then my collection grew pretty rapidly and it became an inconvenience for me to feed live. F/t was really my only alternative being that the store I used to go to went out of business :(

Anyways, out of 12 balls I would say more then half didn't take the f/t conversion easily(9 to be exact actually). I have a pastel male that made it hell for me but from his stubbornness I feel I can convert any snake lol. What I did was instead of fighting it, I gave into his spoiled behavior. For a month(a little long maybe) I regularly fed all the problem snakes live. I got them on a normal feeding schedule, and by doing this they all displayed normal hungry snake behavior consistently the whole time. So for fun one day after my f.t rats were thawed for my other snakes, I decided to see if one of the problem feeders wold take it. Not only did he take it, but every last one of my snakes took one that day. I don't think thats coincidence.

What I think happens is if you can get them on a schedule for a least a month with live, and then try it I feel they just go for it rather then inspect it. Make sure its really warm. I notice some of mine won't take it if its luke warm. So I just usually just run them under the hot tap right before and they take it every time. F/t can be frustrating, and some snakes are more stubborn then others I guess you gotta see what works for you. Good luck!!

Alright cool thanks I'll try that just sucks either buying once a week or trying to keep a few just for food.... grrrr Time to run to the store

I got some of my BP's convereted over to f/t, but then after going off feed during one season they refused the f/t no matter what I tried when it was time to eat again. Thus, now all my BP's are back on live...Granted my collection is small so, it's not that bad...

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Originally Posted by azmodane

Alright cool thanks I'll try that just sucks either buying once a week or trying to keep a few just for food.... grrrr Time to run to the store

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The pay off is great though when they all convert! So easy now lol

Keep those positive waves pumping and they'll eat it, you gotta believe man!!! lol

I'm tellin ya though it does work because I actually had to do this again because my breeder females all went off food and wouldn't take the f/t until I offered them live first. It seems the live just stimulates their appetite more, and usually from that feeding on your good to go because their going to be anticipating a meal again.

Alright well I made the trip and when i came back with those rats u would have swore it had been 5 months since the last ate(was only 10 days).... sucks cuz I paid 5.00 per rat instead of the .96 i pay for frozen.... think imma start breeding and freezing my own....

Hey man let me know if you do start breeding, I'm in the market for cheap food around here.

those of you who feed live with a small collection, where do you get your mice/rats? Pet stores are stupid expensive and breeding with a small collection is overkill.

I am in the process of slowly piecing together a rack for breeding mice right now... I've got everything priced out just trying to decide what tubs to use since the Van Ness small litter pans aren't available easily anymore but I will def let you know and keep an update on how it's going... Would mice work for you or you just need rats?

If they are eating rats now why would you breed mice to feed, just curious?

They will eat Rats or Mice... and the only reason I would breed mice over rats is my gf won't allow more than a feeding worth of rats in the house at a time... 4 balls means 4 rats... So the next best thing is mice...

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Originally Posted by azmodane

They will eat Rats or Mice... and the only reason I would breed mice over rats is my gf won't allow more than a feeding worth of rats in the house at a time... 4 balls means 4 rats... So the next best thing is mice...

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That is a lot of mice.

I only have 10 bps, but I breed my own rats. I have 3 females and 2 males. Sometimes I can feed them all off, and sometimes I can't. If they get too big to feed, I just put a free add in the paper. They are usually gone within a few days.

Just so ya know...

Mice STINK!! Your wife says that now, but she'll be kicking herself when she smells that ammonia. Do yourself and your wife a favor and breed rats lol

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Originally Posted by Animals As Leaders

Just so ya know...

Mice STINK!! Your wife says that now, but she'll be kicking herself when she smells that ammonia. Do yourself and your wife a favor and breed rats lol

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Lol trust me I've tried to convince her but she won't listen... They won't even really be in the house... I have this outside storage room that is connected to the house that is about 8ft long 6ft wide and about 8 ft high that is insulated and I am going to be putting them out there and she still said no...

:rofl:

Women....

Thats great that you have that! The reason I stopped was because of the smell, I just couldn't take it after a while. That, and there more work then the snakes which is annoying. But worth it if finding feeders is a chore for you. If I were you, I would keep trying on the rats. As long as you can deal with the stink of those mice your fine, but I'm warning you its SERIOUS business!

I'm thinking since it's outside how it will be... also it's a small room and opening a door won't be hard or putting in a small exhaust fan