First Food Refusal

[thedarkwolf25]

I am currently trying to get Hera onto rats as well and so far no luck. I went and got some P/K weaned rats from the exotic pet shop and brought them home. Yesterday was feeding time and she acted hungry, I heated the rat up with a blow dryer and she got all excited and was looking for the food. But when I lowered the rat in with tongs she came near and just looked at it.

No strike or anything, I made it "dance" for her any everything and nothing. But she acted like she was hungry. I left it in the tank with her for a couple hours and nothing, she was more interested in cruising about (I feed her at night when she is naturally more active) than eating.

Any tips? I don't know whether to offer again today or wait a week for the next cycle. I don't think it's too big for her as she is 270g and the rat was 35. Could she just be going into a winter fast? And there have been no changes to her tank and the temps are fine.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Were you feeding live or f/t mice before?

Swigging can take time, at that size with proper husbandry your BP should eat, winter fast tend to happen with bigger individual.

The refusal is only due to you switching prey again it can take time before an animal becomes consistent with another prey type which is when tough live comes to play.

Of course tough love with an animal that size might need to get cut short at some point.

[thedarkwolf25]

She was on F/T mice but rats have more nutrients and I would only need to feed her one rat as opposed to multiple mice. Should I just giver mice again or keep trying? Or should I bump down to a smaller rat? (I am trying weaned now). Are there any tricks I should try first? I do want her on rats but I don't want her missing meals either

[zina10]

at her size I would try rat pups, the larger size can be intimidating for some BP's...

good luck

[Stewart_Reptiles]

She was on F/T mice but rats have more nutrients and I would only need to feed her one rat as opposed to multiple mice. Should I just giver mice again or keep trying? Or should I bump down to a smaller rat? (I am trying weaned now). Are there any tricks I should try first? I do want her on rats but I don't want her missing meals either

Try a rat similar in size to the mice you were feeding, and if possible try scenting the rat with old mice bedding if available to you.

[TheWinWizard]

Also try putting it in her favorite hid blocking the entrance.

[thedarkwolf25]

Thanks for the advice guys, should I try again today or next week?

[sho220]

She was on F/T mice but rats have more nutrients

Where did you get that bit of info?

[thedarkwolf25]

It was mentioned in another thread earlier. It said that since rats have more muscle mass compared to mice they are worth more protein.