Switching from live to ft

[futurebpowner]

So my female used to be only on ft but she quit eating so for about a month now I have been doing live, which she loves. My male has been raised on live. I want them both eating frozen because it's safer and cheaper. Two rats costs me $12 a week! Any ideas to switch her back and get him on live would be greatly appreciated!!!

[John1982]

Probably the mistake most often made is not getting the f/t warmed up enough. Another common mistake is how it's presented. Don't just shove the rat in their face, tease them a little by slowly dragging it into and out of their strike range.

[DVirginiana]

That seems a little steep... But I guess prices at the non-chain petstores you usually have to get live feeders from probably vary a lot.

IMO the female will probably be really easy to switch back since she was eating f/t before. Just offer them to her like you were doing. It might take a week or two, but she'll probably go back to them.

For the male, make sure the rat is thoroughly warm all the way through, then blast it with a hairdryer right before feeding to get the temp up. That makes the heat signature look more like a live rat. Since he's used to taking live he might respond well to the 'zombie dance' and be more likely to eat if you move the prey around. If not, you can try leaving it in his enclosure overnight. Some will only take food when they're left on their own like that.

[futurebpowner]

I do the hairdryer and the zombie dance, but I saw someone heat it under a heat lamp so I was thinking of trying that.

[Galaxygirl]

I like blow drying them right next to their cage so that they can smell the rat and go into feed mode. All the snakes usually come to the front of their cage and wait for it when I do that. Currently trying to switch our new ball python to f/t as well...

[bcr229]

A month-long fast is nothing. Next time wait longer. When mine fast I offer prey less often, e.g. every 10 to 14 days instead of every 7 days, and I offer a slightly smaller feeder. Most snakes in captivity are overfed.
MiceDirect.com is in Georgia. Even if you're not close enough to buy feeders there in person, shipping shouldn't be too expensive since you're so close if you want to purchase bulk frozen feeders.

Also, if there are ever any reptile expos near you I'd suggest going, you might find a private feeder breeder there. They also advertise on CL and FB.

[J&A exotics]

You could try scent with used rat bedding and blasting with a hair dryer to give the rat a good heat signature and try the zombie dance. I would skip a meal for the male also to make sure he hungry.