feeding troubles

[RobBasile]

i got 2 new balls back in november of 09. a female super pastel and a male spider, both 08. they are both perfectly healthy, they just dont have the best eating habits. when i got them, i was told they were eating live rats. i dont like feeding live, especially live rats, so ive been stuck on getting them to eat f/t. the female is much better of the 2, id say since ive had them she'll eventually eat 75% of the time. but thats after trying all night with her striking more defensively. the male however has only eaten 25% of the times. now i havent paniced since hes close to breeding size and maybe hes just off feed. but the few times i have gotten him to eat, i had to put him in another smaller container with the f/t rat and the next morning it was gone. but that hasnt happened often. now i have tried all the methods, heating the prey up, braining it, different times of day, etc. im thinking the only way is to get some live rat fuzzies, try and get em to eat them, then once hes done with that offer him the f/t since he'll be in feeding mode. any other ideas?

[snakeyes]

we're on the same boat. i just got my first BP about a 4 days ago. the previous owner was feeding him once every two weeks and he was due this last friday. he was feeding him live. i decided to try f/t because my wife would "faint if she saw ReX strangling a poor defenseless little mouse", her exact verbage.

unfortunately, i tried all those things as well and he just smelled it, got real close, but didn't even strike at it...
i hope more experienced people offer some ideas...

[RobBasile]

well not really the same boat, u just got yours 4 days ago. hes still getting used to his new surroundings. mine have been in their enclosures for over 3 months now. give yours a week and then offer him a f/t at night. see if that works.

[snakeyes]

thanks man, i'll try that.

[Rije682]

I understand what youre going through. I got a het clown female about 5 months ago and she's only eaten once for me. I breed ASF's but she wont get close to those so I buy her mice, they just end up climbing all over her. Not really sure what else to do.

[Kaorte]

How are they being housed? What is their setup like? Details about this or a picture would help tremendously since most eating problems stem from bad husbandry.

Where have you been trying to feed them?

If you do in fact have your husbandry right on, I would try a small live rat. You may not like it but it is much more important to get these animals eating consistently.

[RobBasile]

no problems with the husbandry. they are in a rack system with a good thermal gradiant. my others eat fine, its just these 2, more specifically the male spider. i guess im gonna have to try live.

[L.West]

I was advised to simply wait it out with my female bp who hasn't eaten now in 3 months. I was told that it was probably due to the time of year and it being breeding season.

She has never had live prey - I don't want to switch her to live prey and then can't get her back on f/t.

In my situation - she has been in the same enclosure/husbandry for the past two years - your thoughts "kaorte"

Thanks.