Quote Originally Posted by Crowfingers View Post
I have a 4 year old 1300g male. In the summer he eats a small rat every 10-15 days, he would like to eat every 5 sometimes I think lol. I wait until I notice hunting behavior, then rub the still frozen rat on something in the cage - if he comes out and is really interested in the rat smell, then I feed him. If he ignores the rat smell I wait 5 days. He usually has a small fast in Oct/Nov then will start dropping back on food to about every 3 weeks. He will have another fast (usually) from Jan-March. His longest was 73 days.

I am still occasionally fooled by his hunting behavior - he will window-wipe the glass, circle his cage, and act really excited by the rat smell, sits in the S shape over the rock where I offer food, and watches movement outside the cage - then when the rat is offered he is like "nah, I'm not really hungry after all...I want to come out of the cage instead", other times he hits it like a freight train after showing all the same signals.

I tend to wait longer in the winter just because he is more likely to refuse. I have also learned that he will refuse food after shedding even if he comes out of it acting hungry. So I wait 3 weeks minimum post shed to offer no matter what behavior he is displaying, any sooner and it is 100% a refusal.
Thanks, this is some good to know info and tips. I especially like the rubbing the frozen rat idea. I guess if he shows interest you then thaw it out and
offer that same night/day. And I agree I'm sure they can fool us on occasion but these tips I'm getting from you others is good to know for helping to save rats and wasted time and money. Thanks a bunch Crowfingers, Craiga01453, MuicyJelon, and anyone sharing ideas.