Tempted to try F/T mice

[Red123]

Our ball is a picky eater though I wonder whether stubborn would be a better word to use. He is currently 2 yrs old 1.1kg and just short of 3 1/2 ft long. He ate f/t rats fine even eating multiples up until he was just over 1 year old and weighed 1kg then it all stopped. He will eat an 80g f/t rat weaner once every 6-8 weeks if we are lucky and I do mean if we are lucky and his last fast lasted for around 5 months during which time he did lose weight around 120g. He always comes out of his hide as though he is going to strike at the rat (rat is super heated with hair dryer) but then he just goes right by it and acts like he wants out of his viv. Now if he continues like this it could mean that he is only going to be eating 3-5 rats a year and as I said they are only around 80g he simply wont touch anything bigger. Surely this is not enough for him to be to remain healthy? Hence this is why I am tempted to try f/t mice. I can get mice weighing around 50-60g and if he would eat multiples of these or even more often than the 6-8 weeks surely it would be better for him?
Help, really need some expert opinions on this one

[CptJack]

If he will eat mice and you are prepared to feed him mice (and the extra expense) get him mice and feed them to him.

DO be aware that mature males go off feed during the winter and can stay off for months, though. It's just part of the deal for a lot of them.

[Red123]

If he will eat mice and you are prepared to feed him mice (and the extra expense) get him mice and feed them to him.

DO be aware that mature males go off feed during the winter and can stay off for months, though. It's just part of the deal for a lot of them.

I know its normal for males to fast and thats ok I can cope with that just. Its the fact that his feeds are so far apart. If he didn't fast for so long I wouldn't be concerned over his feeding length between feeds as he would eating more through the year. Its just that I have often been shouted at for even considering offering mice and have always been told ''if they eat rats then keep with rats no matter what'' but to me his feeding is a little extreme to just stay with rats. I was wondering what would the closest to their natural food source rats or mice. I know a lot of people use multis but the expense of these is just plain ridiculous and would like to avoid if at all possible.

[J.P.]

feeding will go back to normal when the snake is ready. your job is to try, if it doesn't cooperate, then it means he doesn't want to eat.

you can try f/t mice, but what will you do if it refuses even the mice? perhaps you'll entertain the idea of feeding live, then if it refuses even the live food, what next? trying too hard will add more to your worries when your snake doesn't want to eat no matter what you offer. i learned this the hard way. the best way to solve snake feeding issues is ideal husbandry and simply wait them out.

p.s., i think your snake just hit the so called "wall". this happens sometimes when young snakes are fed more than the ideal. they eat well and grow quick for the first few months or so, and then suddenly stop eating when they reach a certain age/weight. it happened to two of my snakes, not my doing mind you. i got them from somebody who enjoyed feeding the snakes, when they started refusing food, the owner panicked and wanted to get rid of them. i bought them for a song because of the off feed issue, and after a few months of fasting they are now back on a regular feeding schedule.

[OodlesOfNoodles]

Hi, I see your from the UK too. One of my males is being exactly the same way. I can tell you from my experience ( he's a mouser) that having a male, who eats sporadically on mice, is one big worry sometimes. He will rarely eat two...

The mice sold are quite small, unless you're purchasing xl (retired breeders) mice. Have a look into multis, a lot of people are breeding them over here now. I would sooner feed multis/rats than mice, to my males at least...unless of course I was breeding my own mice.