Trouble with F/T

My youngest girl I have eating great, however she's not being easy to switch over. She's finally hitting at a f/t , but won't eat. Any suggestions?

have you been offering a different/live prey item when she doesn't eat? also, how are you preparing the f/t feeder?

there was just a post here about a similar topic and one of the suggestions was when you notice a shed cycle coming, do not offer any food until a few days after the shed is complete. once complete, offer the f/t feeder. there's a high chance of success with this method.

She was low on weight when I got her so I've spent the last few months solid on live to get her up to size. I've waited a week, tried ft again and if didn't take would do a live. It's now getting her to swallow after the strike.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chakup

She was low on weight when I got her so I've spent the last few months solid on live to get her up to size. I've waited a week, tried ft again and if didn't take would do a live. It's now getting her to swallow after the strike.

---

when she strikes does she coil and try to "kill" it? also, how do you prepare the f/t feeder?

normally, since she's striking, i'd say to wait her out and stop offering live, but if you say her weight has been an issue i don't think that's an option. like i mentioned above, one method you can try is to wait for a shed cycle and offer when it's complete to see if she'll take.

Make sure the feeder is warm enough. It needs to mimic a live feeder which has a body temp just over a 100F.

I've had good luck with thawing and heating in water.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Make sure the feeder is warm enough. It needs to mimic a live feeder which has a body temp just over a 100F.

I've had good luck with thawing and heating in water.

---

This^ or warm with a hairdryer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

^^^What Zincubus said!^^^ Zincubus suggested this to me as well when I was having problems. I started using a heat gun to heat up thawed rats and a couple of my snakes that were driving me crazy refusing f/t immediately started eating and have been eating like champs ever since. Not only that, but the smell of rat, which fills the room from blow drying each rat at feeding time seems to send every snake in the room into a ravenous feeding frenzy! If she shows interest, but doesn't take it right away, just keep heating it back up and offering again. Don't give in and give her live...

PS Don't thaw your rats directly in water. Either just let them sit out for a few hours or make sure they are sealed in air-tight zip lock bags, if you're thawing in hot water...

Rats thaw in fridge, do a short water soak to bring overall temp up and then hit them with hairdryer. Last night was her first actual strike and coil on a ft, she definitely likes her rats hotter temp wise then my others. But after the strike and coil, nothing. First time left her alone and nada. Second strike covered her tank and left for awhile and nothing.
I'll give it another go in a week.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

^^^What Zincubus said!^^^ Zincubus suggested this to me as well when I was having problems. I started using a heat gun to heat up thawed rats and a couple of my snakes that were driving me crazy refusing f/t immediately started eating and have been eating like champs ever since. Not only that, but the smell of rat, which fills the room from blow drying each rat at feeding time seems to send every snake in the room into a ravenous feeding frenzy! If she shows interest, but doesn't take it right away, just keep heating it back up and offering again. Don't give in and give her live...

PS Don't thaw your rats directly in water. Either just let them sit out for a few hours or make sure they are sealed in air-tight zip lock bags, if you're thawing in hot water...

---

Thats true about the hairdryer sending the rodent smells around the room - I'm surrounded by vivs so on feeding night the Burm / Boas / Retic and Kings are all pacing their vivs :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zincubus

Thats true about the hairdryer sending the rodent smells around the room - I'm surrounded by vivs so on feeding night the Burm / Boas / Retic and Kings are all pacing their vivs :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

---

Since I started doing this, I can't even walk past the rack that one of my Boas is in or he is striking at the front of his tub and when it's his turn to eat I can't even get his tub open, because he is charging right out like a Black Head or Retic! lol

She has a much much lesser response to ft then live. I'm hoping that at least now showing strike and coil almost there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chakup

She has a much much lesser response to ft then live. I'm hoping that at least now showing strike and coil almost there.

---

The hairdryer trick on occasion just takes a little patience but after the first time it gets easier and easier, not sure if it's the smell or the hairdryer vibration or the sound or maybe all the lot but it seems to leave an imprint on them somehow ... maybe it's just some kind of learnt behaviour ??


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chakup

She has a much much lesser response to ft then live. I'm hoping that at least now showing strike and coil almost there.

---

Mine was having similar problems. Beyond what's been said about thawing in the room and heating the rodents to get a response, here's what I've done to get an animal that was skipping feedings to eat more regularly:

• Additional cover in his enclosure. Tighter/darker hides, plants, pcv tubes, etc.
• A standard feeding regimen, offering it to him the exact same way every time.
• After he's struck and is latched I make the rodent "struggle" a bit, lightly tugging.

Between these three things, he's now eating regularly and has actually been getting more willing to strike out at me when I open his enclosure and snatch up the food items immediately when offered with a strong strike.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hollowlaughter

Mine was having similar problems. Beyond what's been said about thawing in the room and heating the rodents to get a response, here's what I've done to get an animal that was skipping feedings to eat more regularly:

• Additional cover in his enclosure. Tighter/darker hides, plants, pcv tubes, etc.
• A standard feeding regimen, offering it to him the exact same way every time.
• After he's struck and is latched I make the rodent "struggle" a bit, lightly tugging.

Between these three things, he's now eating regularly and has actually been getting more willing to strike out at me when I open his enclosure and snatch up the food items immediately when offered with a strong strike.

---

I guess they're all different :)

I always feed at night as Royals are nocturnal ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I hairdryer in the same room. I offer to her first to get her moving, hairdryer for my other two and go back to my first. This time she struck so know getting close. Next go round I'll aim for higher heat since that seemed to help, and attempt an after strike shake.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

PS Don't thaw your rats directly in water. Either just let them sit out for a few hours or make sure they are sealed in air-tight zip lock bags, if you're thawing in hot water...

---

Why?

I used to try to keep them dry with zip lock bags but it never failed that they would leak. Now I just thaw them directly in the water. I even serve them soaking wet.

I don't know how long it would take to thaw a XXL rat by sitting it out and don't care to find out.

I find water to be quick and easy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zincubus

I guess they're all different :)

I always feed at night as Royals are nocturnal ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

---

Yeah, I aim for around twilight to start thawing, personally.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Why?

I used to try to keep them dry with zip lock bags but it never failed that they would leak. Now I just thaw them directly in the water. I even serve them soaking wet.

I don't know how long it would take to thaw a XXL rat by sitting it out and don't care to find out.

I find water to be quick and easy.

---

I try to thaw to food standards, all I can think in regards to above would be possible issue with germs etc, but yeah Everytime the bag leaks. I just avoid trying to do water for the full thaw.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Why?

I used to try to keep them dry with zip lock bags but it never failed that they would leak. Now I just thaw them directly in the water. I even serve them soaking wet.

I don't know how long it would take to thaw a XXL rat by sitting it out and don't care to find out.

I find water to be quick and easy.

---

Oddly enough , my two albinos won't even look at water thawed mice / rats ... I just presumed that some of the smell gets washed away ..


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chakup

I try to thaw to food standards, all I can think in regards to above would be possible issue with germs etc, but yeah Everytime the bag leaks. I just avoid trying to do water for the full thaw.

---

I just thaw to snake standards. Lol!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zincubus

Oddly enough , my two albinos won't even look at water thawed mice / rats ... I just presumed that some of the smell gets washed away ..

---

None of mine seem to even notice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Why?

I used to try to keep them dry with zip lock bags but it never failed that they would leak. Now I just thaw them directly in the water. I even serve them soaking wet.

I don't know how long it would take to thaw a XXL rat by sitting it out and don't care to find out.

I find water to be quick and easy.

---

I have always just let the rats sit out in my snake room and thaw out to room temperature then I would run the rats directly under hot water at feeding time. I struggled for months getting a couple of my snakes to eat f/t consistently. I would run their rats under hot water then spend 10 minutes puppeteering, heat them back up under hot water again and spend 10 more minutes puppeteering. I repeat this again and again for about 30 minutes on each of these snakes every feeding day and they would refuse to eat for 4 - 8 weeks at a time. On the rare occasion they would eat, they wouldn't even strike and wrap the rats. They would take the rats ever so gently and sorta just drag them off and eat them. Then Zincubus suggested that running them directly under hot water could be washing the rat scent off and that I should use a blow dryer. I followed his advice (only I use an actual heat gun) and the very next feeding both of these guys immediately struck and wrapped the rats the moment I opened their tubs and have been doing so every feeding ever since. Prior to doing things this way (when I was offering soak and wet rats) some of my snakes would never even take the rats directly from me. I would have to just leave them in their tubs. Now, they are also striking and wrapping the moment I open their tubs. As i've said, every snake in the room is a salavitating, ravenous beast at feeding time now. I don't have to mess around for more than a minute with any of my snakes at feeding time now. I think this all adds up to pretty overwhelming evidence that there is definitely something to using this method to feed. I firmly believe that Zincubus is right in his assumption that running the rats directly under hot water (especially over and over again for problem feeders) washes a lot of the rat scent off. I also firmly believe that due to the fact that using a blow dryer/heat gun fills the air with the pungent odor of rat, it sends all of the snakes into a feeding frenzy. The smell is actually pretty gross. I just block it out! lol So, I mean, if I can smell it that good, imagine how well the snakes are smelling it. It's pretty obvious why this works so miraculously...

As far as thawing under hot water, there are plenty of ways of doing that without getting the rats wet. Simply use any plastic bag that doesn't leak and tie it off or don't submerge the top of the bags...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

I have always just let the rats sit out in my snake room and thaw out to room temperature then I would run the rats directly under hot water at feeding time. I struggled for months getting a couple of my snakes to eat f/t consistently. I would run their rats under hot water then spend 10 minutes puppeteering, heat them back up under hot water again and spend 10 more minutes puppeteering. I repeat this again and again for about 30 minutes on each of these snakes every feeding day and they would refuse to eat for 4 - 8 weeks at a time. On the rare occasion they would eat, they wouldn't even strike and wrap the rats. They would take the rats ever so gently and sorta just drag them off and eat them. Then Zincubus suggested that running them directly under hot water could be washing the rat scent off and that I should use a blow dryer. I followed his advice (only I use an actual heat gun) and the very next feeding both of these guys immediately struck and wrapped the rats the moment I opened their tubs and have been doing so every feeding ever since. Prior to doing things this way (when I was offering soak and wet rats) some of my snakes would never even take the rats directly from me. I would have to just leave them in their tubs. Now, they are also striking and wrapping the moment I open their tubs. As i've said, every snake in the room is a salavitating, ravenous beast at feeding time now. I don't have to mess around for more than a minute with any of my snakes at feeding time now. I think this all adds up to pretty overwhelming evidence that there is definitely something to using this method to feed. I firmly believe that Zincubus is right in his assumption that running the rats directly under hot water (especially over and over again for problem feeders) washes a lot of the rat scent off. I also firmly believe that due to the fact that using a blow dryer/heat gun fills the air with the pungent odor of rat, it sends all of the snakes into a feeding frenzy. The smell is actually pretty gross. I just block it out! lol So, I mean, if I can smell it that good, imagine how well the snakes are smelling it. It's pretty obvious why this works so miraculously...

As far as thawing under hot water, there are plenty of ways of doing that without getting the rats wet. Simply use any plastic bag that doesn't leak and tie it off or don't submerge the top of the bags...

---

Imagine trying to evenly thaw and heat a XXL rat under running water. It would never work. Now imagine doing this for 8 rats. No thank you.

I never warm my rats under running water. I place them all in a small tub and then add warm water. Once to thaw and then one water change to heat. So I'm not washing my rats and instead I'm soaking them in rat water. I then take the entire tub into the snake room and serve.

This method also helped me switch some from mice to rats by crossing the scents by soaking them together.

BTW, placing a large and XXL rat into a bag without putting a hole in it with their claws is pretty much impossible and I'm not cutting dead rats nails. So saying to put them in a bag that won't leak is much easier said than done.

In the end I found I didn't need bags. I've used my method for years with many snakes. It works for me and many other keepers. But I will agree that running the rats under water is not a good way to do things but then I never suggested doing that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

I never warm my rats under running water. I place them all in a small tub and then add warm water. Once to thaw and then one water change to heat. So I'm not washing my rats and instead I'm soaking them in rat water. I then take the entire tub into the snake room and serve.

---

Do you dry the rats before feeding, or do they go right from the water to the snake, wet and all?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Charles8088

Do you dry the rats before feeding, or do they go right from the water to the snake, wet and all?

---

I used to try to dry them but over time I found my snakes didn't care so now the rats go straight from the tub to the snake. I do let some of the water run off when I first pull it out but that is just to keep from getting water on my floor.

I thaw directly in water as well. Haven't tried offering it wet since I use a blow dryer to heat it up, but.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Imagine trying to evenly thaw and heat a XXL rat under running water. It would never work. Now imagine doing this for 8 rats. No thank you..

---

I didn't say anything about thawing under running water.... Your water bill would be astronomical every month if you did that... lol Anyway... I'm glad your way of doing it works for your snakes. That's great. I was just sharing my recent experiences and observations in hopes of helping the OP with their problem feeder...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aedryan Methyus

I didn't say anything about thawing under running water.... Your water bill would be astronomical every month if you did that... lol Anyway... I'm glad your way of doing it works for your snakes. That's great. I was just sharing my recent experiences and observations in hopes of helping the OP with their problem feeder...

---

I got ya. I was just interested in why you made the comment I first quoted. Not ever having an issue soaking them it made me curious.

In my last post I was referring to this.

"I would run the rats directly under hot water at feeding time."

I know you meant just to warm them but for my largest feeders that is just not a good method is what I meant.

No worries.

I am only feeding mice right now, and I only have one snake, but I put them in a Ziploc bag, place the bag in an old tupperware, with the top sticking out, fill the container with hot water and put the lid on so the mouse is fully submerged. In about 10 minutes, I'll replace the water so it stays nice and hot. I have heard that putting the feeder directly in water can wash off some of the smell, which might make transitioning to f/t more difficult. If possible, I've also heard that holding the feeder by it's scruff (with feeding tongs) and making it kinda dance around will help it seem more alive than if you dangle it by the tail, but mine are too small to do that right now so I hold it by the tail and make it dance as close to the ground as I can. Once your snake wraps around it, grab the tail again (or whichever part you can reach) and make it seem like it's struggling, so they get a sense that they have to kill it. I have had trouble with my bp dropping his feeder sometimes instead of going straight to eating it, but I think that's because it isn't quite hot enough. I'm going to try the heat gun next week, and check it with my IR gun to make sure it's warmed up all the way to see if that helps. The breeder that I got my bp from recommends heating it up under a heat lamp, which is more convenient when feeding a lot of snakes.