How long do most of you wait?

Hey guys and gals. As you all know I have a male Mojave named Kuwadi. Well, when I got him I was informed he only ate live as he refused f/t. I took him home and offered a f/t small rat which he didn't take so I left it in with him, next day it was gone so I felt achieved. I have gotten 2 meals in him with the leave in the tub method. I offered two weeks ago regardless that I new he was deep in shed (really really blue eyes), he refused which happens. I waited another week, found him shed last monday I believe so I tried feeding him on Wednesday (feeding day), he refused from my hand so I left it in there. Next day it was still there and he was showing no interest. I personally don't mind feeding live, but around here its $5 for a small rat, when I can order f/t for like $1 something or less, IMO its just easier for me. So my question is how many times do you try offering f/t to a reluctant feeder before giving in?


Thanks everyone,
TTYL.
Kevin

He's already eaten them so I don't understand why ur asking the question. He's in shed so he won't eat. Plus being this time of year. My male doesn't eat consistently any time of year. Just keep offering f/t and he will eat when he's hungry.

How long before I would give up would depend on a lot of factors one being mainly size.

If you were told he eats fine on live why bother frustrating urself doing something else? Personally if live rats are that much out there SERIOUSLY, I would start to think if breeding them is a good idea.

Mine took f/t until her first shed. She will not even look at f/t now. The only way we get her to eat is live mice or rat pups. We offer f/t all the time and it does not work.

I don't even offer my snakes food while in shed, it's not worth it. Some people have no problems but mine never eat when in shed. Out of shed it's a completely different story. I have only had one snake not eventually switch over to F/T. The key is patience and trying different techniques. The biggest mistake is to not get the rodent warm enough. I thaw out my frozen rodents for 24hrs in the fridge before I try to feed them. After 24hrs I take a hair dryer and blow them for 2-4 minutes depending on the size of rodent. I always use tongs and make them do the zombie dance. I don't shove the rodent in the snakes face, I almost use it as bait to lure the snake out. Usually if the snake comes toward the rodent, even a little, I know it will eat.

If you try and try again without luck, offer a fresh killed rat once or twice before trying frozen again. Hopefully that works for you. The best part about having a bunch of snakes is if one won't eat, someone else will!

The problem with breeding them is that I still live with my parents and my mother REFUSES to let rats in the house, so doesn't even like the snakes and always says if they get out they will become a dog chew toy. I will have to talk to a local friend who breeds ASF and see if he can sell to me on a weekly basis. I'll give f/t a few more tries then go from there. I have yet to get a weight on him so I am not exactly sure...I would guess around 700g.

It would depend on how badly I wanted him to eat f/t, and of course size.

I really want him on f/t, it's just easier. But really I am just looking for the well being of my animals.

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Originally Posted by kevinb

I really want him on f/t, it's just easier. But really I am just looking for the well being of my animals.

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Honestly to me that means feeding live, I think F/T is more for the owners sake and not the animals.
Not that feeding f/t is a bad thing, just that it's a personal preference more than for the well being of the snake.

Keep in mind, while a refused f/t feeding means a wasted rat, a refused live feeding means you now have a pet rat for a while. BP's can go off feed for months... do you really want a pet rat that long?

The only thing I worry about live is all the horror stories of bad bites from a bad coil, not getting it's head, etc, etc. I don't mind feeding live, it's just a little more complicated in my situation, but if it's what I need to do then okay.

If he really is ~700g, then I suggest just getting a scale and monitoring his weight. As long as he isn't losing a lot, then a fast isn't going to hurt him. He took F/T, so he recognizes that it's food. He's just holding out because he isn't that hungry.

Like I said ill try again in a couple weeks when my food order comes in a see then. Maybe then he'll be hungry. He was fed every two weeks till I got him. So that might be it.

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IF he was fed every two weeks, he was being underfed unless he decided he didn't want to eat every other week.

If you fed him f/t twice and he ate, offer him food after he is out of shed.

As others said, he may just be in breeding mode and won't eat. Some males do this. Monitor his weight.

The guy I bought him from doesn't like his males on the large side. Hence why every two weeks. I like every week personally. He already shed last Monday, so I might pickup a small live rat this Wednesday and see what he does or wait it out.

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Why wouldn't you offer f/t again if he ate it before in shed? Also don't just jump to trying live, he may just not be eating because of the season. Just monitor his weight and offer it to him.

That guy obviously didn't know what he was doing.

He's a good guy, just a little weird with how he does certain things. He has produced gorgeous snakes. And alright ill wait.

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