Issues with inconsistent feedings

[SushiRoll]

I've had my banana boy for a couple of months now. He was hatched sometime late May. Currently he's about 123g. The breeder advised that he was on live fuzzy rats/mice. I tried to transition him to frozen thawed but didn't have much luck. I ended up getting him a live fuzzy and he took it right away. Fast forward a few weeks and I was able to get him to take 2 frozen thawed. And then he decided that he was no longer interested in frozen thawed. I fed him a live fuzzy to get him going again but he's been extremely inconsistent the past little while. He's struck and coiled the last 2 live fuzzys but did not eat them. He was in a 10g but I moved him into a 6qt for the time being. Does anyone have any tips or tricks? He's driving me nuts.

Thank you

[Craiga 01453]

If youre talking fuzzy mice they're WAAAYY too small and your snake may not even recognize them as a proper meal.

[SushiRoll]

My apologies. I meant fuzzy rats.

[Hugsplox]

My apologies. I meant fuzzy rats.

Just to drop a newer keeper's 2 cents in here. The advice I got from several people here as well as the breeder where I purchased my guy from, was to keep him on what the breeder was feeding until he was eating very consistently for me. So my guy came to me eating one live rat fuzzy a week, and I'm on feeding 6 now with no issues. So maybe when you starting trying to transition it was too soon? I'm not sure, I wish you the best of luck though, I know the two big things I was worried about when my guy arrived was eating and shedding properly.

To be honest, I don't know that I'm going to swap to F/T, I think as long as you're keeping your animal safe while feeding that F/T Vs. live is just a preference. Personally I have a family owned reptile store close to me that breeds their own feeders, so I can actually go into their breeding rooms and confirm that their rats and mice are being housed and treated humanly and are well fed and happy, so it doesn't bother me to pick one up every week.

[Craiga 01453]

There's nothing at all wrong with feeding live asking as it's done responsibly.

The pros to F/T : can bulk, saving money. They NEVER fight back. Don't need to keep refusals alive. They're MUCH easier to find for most people.

[SushiRoll]

I'd like to transition him over to frozen thawed further down the road. Maybe when he's 250+ but I'm now just trying to get him to eat on a schedule. Just kinda sucks when he kills his food and then leaves it.

[EL-Ziggy]

The most important thing is that he is eating. How often are you offering food? He may not be a weekly feeder. Perhaps if you dial back the frequency of his feedings he’ll eat more consistently. If you’re offering food weekly, try biweekly. If you’re offering biweekly, try every 3-4 weeks. That’s one advantage of feeding f/t is that it’s easier to dispose of refused prey if you don’t have other critters to eat them. Snakes can go for several months without food, even young ones, so I wouldn’t worry about a few missed meals. Double check your temps, and as long as they’re in range, then let him eat on his preferred schedule. It’s also getting colder in some areas and lots of snakes will slow down or go off food completely until spring.

[Hugsplox]

There's nothing at all wrong with feeding live asking as it's done responsibly.

The pros to F/T : can bulk, saving money. They NEVER fight back. Don't need to keep refusals alive. They're MUCH easier to find for most people.

I 100% agree, wasn't trying to sway OP's opinion just offering mine. Like you said as long as you're feeding responsibly and not causing issues for your snake based on your choice, I don't see an issue with either method.

[EL-Ziggy]

I'd like to transition him over to frozen thawed further down the road. Maybe when he's 250+ but I'm now just trying to get him to eat on a schedule. Just kinda sucks when he kills his food and then leaves it.

If he’s killing it and leaving it then I’d freeze it and offer it again later as f/t. Can’t hurt. 😎

[SushiRoll]

If he’s killing it and leaving it then I’d freeze it and offer it again later as f/t. Can’t hurt. 😎

Is that generally okay to do? I've read some things about not feeding something that's been bitten and refused. I do have another bp that's a garbage disposal, wouldn't mind feeing him all the leftovers.