Aggravated at my picky eaters

[Masonic]

I have got most of my bps eating F/T but I have a couple that just will not take it. Do I just not feed at all because I have been feeding live because they will not take F/T?

[Eramyl]

You can hold out them. Mine usually take 3-4 weeks before they decide they will eat f/t. If they go longer than 4 weeks I will usually cave and give them a live, but eventually they get tired of waiting and eat f/t.

Then again, I have two males that will not eat f/t. I've had them for almost a year now, and have resigned to the fact I have to find live every week for them.

Good luck either way.

[Masonic]

Yea the ones that refuse are a year-two years old. I will stop feeding live and continue to offer F/T

[Eramyl]

Don't offer every week. That just trains them to refuse. Wait a few weeks then try again. My two males that eat live are adults, so you might not be able to get them to switch.

[Masonic]

I got my 1800g female to take it the first time. Some just wont take to it?

[C2tcardin]

I'm going through the same thing though mine are much younger. I started mine out on f/t mice then picked up 3 new hatchlings and two of them would only eat live so I started buying live mice from a local breeder but having 40 mice in the house/garage smelled awful so I decided to switch them back. However, I decided to switch to f/t rats as well and so far about half my collection has taken to the rats no problem, the others have been eating the last of my frozen mice and I broke down and bought two feeder mice the other day at Petco for my two picky eaters. I'm hopeful that as they get bigger they will make the switch to f/t rats.

[WarriorPrincess90]

Some will take f/t, others never will. If the animal has a strong feeding response, it is much easier to get them to switch. If they are a reluctant eater, it may be virtually impossible to get them to switch. I have one adult male that I will never get to eat anything but live mice. I have resigned myself to this fact. Some simply won't respond if you are hovering over them doing the zombie dance with the rat, and they may be unlikely to take the rat without the motion to entice them. The best advice I can offer with regards to that is to feed them live and don't handle them often or at all for a few weeks. Wait until you get aggressive feeding responses. Then try dangling the live rat over them for a feeding or two. If they take the live rat off the tongs, try an f/t the next time around. At that point, a rat dangling over them is not so abnormal and they are more likely to take it. At least, that has been the case in my experience. Good luck!