My F/T dilemma...

[ReptiMoto]

My bp is about 5 months old and has been eating live mice. He is big enough for 2 mice now but before I start feeding him 2 I want to get him on f/t. So last week I waited 7 days for him to get really hungry and tried to feed him f/t and he took it and ate it. But now after waiting 7 more days he refused to eat it. He gets interested in the mouse but then after sniffing it (I do scent them with the actual substrate I get from the live mice cage) he then refuses to eat it. Any suggestions?

[M.P.C]

You sure it was warm enough the second time ?

[ReptiMoto]

Positive

[bcr229]

I would just say keep at it. I hatched out 11 babies last year, and 10 converted readily from live mouse hoppers to live rat fuzzies to f/t a few weeks later.

The 11th had me tearing my hair out - if he wasn't offered a live mouse he showed no interest in eating, and often hissed or threw coils as he scurried under his hide. This was every week until last week. I was feeding the others their f/t rat pups and he was up at the front of the tub acting hungry, so I offered him one... and he ripped it right off the tongs. The only thing I can think of is that my supplier didn't have live small mice so I was feeding hoppers - and he finally got hungry enough to go for a different feeder.

Be patient and keep trying, he'll switch eventually.

[JoshSloane]

I second Bcr's advice. Ironically my baby burm once in a while doesn't seem too interested in f/t. I even tried live and he refused. Waited a few more days and tried f/t again and he took it off the tongs immediately. I definitely think consistency is the key. Don't spend too much time trying different prey or crazy scenting strategies. Just let nature take its course and they will eat eventually.

[ItsAllNew2Me!]

I also say keep at it. He will come around. Also why don't you switch over to rats? Feeding one larger prey item may be more ideal than trying to feed two smaller ones especially if he may be picky.

[200xth]

Just as an additional suggestion, you may want to try simply leaving the prey in his enclosure overnight. I have a couple of BP's who won't eat unless it's the dead of night for some reason. I put the food in, close up, it's gone the next morning. It's the only way they will eat.

[ReptiMoto]

Will keep trying, fingers crossed

[Caspian]

My female BP is the same - she took a f/t once, but before and after that she won't have anything to do with them. She'll actually slither over the top of them, and completely ignore that they're there, no matter how warm I get them. And if they have any blood on them, she hides. She actually bumped one with her nose that had blood on it - and spent about ten minutes rubbing her head on everything in the tub, trying to get the blood off presumably, even though I couldn't actually see any on her. I figure next week I can try braining, and I've heard of scenting them with tuna, though I tried braining a couple months back with no luck. Fortunately, my male BP's quite happy to take anything she turns her nose up at. My kingsnakes have never had any hesitation over taking f/t - I just drop it into a food dish in their tubs, and they're on it right away.

[ReptiMoto]

So is your female eating f/t at all?