Need a little help

[sarahlovesmiike]

I moved my rescued balls into tubs because they weren't shedding right in tanks. They were previously on large F/T rats while in tanks, but he was always a sporadic feeder. I couldn't get my male to take any thawed rats in the tub so I offered him two small live rats after an eight month fast. He took the first one fine so I gave him the second one.


He took those in the beginning of March and I haven't been able to get him to take anything since. He is housed alone, husbandry is on point. He is in the exact same set up at my female and she eats F/T like a mad (wo)man. I was told by my vet that some picky males will only take a few meals a year, but my understanding was if he isn't eating then I'm doing something wrong. I was thinking that maybe he's stressed from being housed in the same room as my female, or maybe he's stressed because they'd always been together and now they're not. That probably sounds dumb, but I know they're touchy and really want to get him eating on a good schedule.


A little background info:
They were previously housed TOGETHER in a 55 gallon tank with no hides or fresh water. They had a 20 watt lamp on 24/7. No heat source. The previous owner just left two large rats in the enclosure over night and took out whatever was left. The female was at a good weight when I got her, but the male was skinny. The female had a nasty rat bite right on the tip of her nose and had developed mouth rot. They both had RIs. We brought them to the vet and got them nice and healthy. Got them both to take a few F/T meals (never even tried live) and then switched them into separate enclosures.

[Kaorte]

When did you move them to the tubs?

I think feeding one small rat a week might be a little better then offering such big meals. Sometimes when you offer a a bp a lot of big meals in a row, they are more likely to go on fasts.

[sarahlovesmiike]

They were on a 14 day schedule, Louise still is. I've also begun breeding my own rats, so I no longer buy frozen. Louise still get P/K but they are a bit smaller than she's used to getting so I may put her on a weekly feeding schedule.

I moved them into tubs in February. Louise didn't even need time to adjust. She ate the first week. Zeus on the other hand just likes to drive me crazy.