Quote Originally Posted by loonunit View Post
When I really want to push a point like that (you WILL eat f/t, you WILL eat rats), it usually involves some sneaky stuff like that? But mostly it involves out-waiting the snake. Basically, I wait until July or August, when they're really, really hungry, and then I simply won't feed them if they won't eat rats. (You WILL eat rats, because there are no mice in the house. No rat = no meal.)

This is hard with females, because I desperately want them to eat and gain weight before October. And sometimes going through this means they won't be ready to breed in the autumn if we go through the hassle of switching to rats, when they would have been borderline if I left them on a mouse diet.

... so now I have a 1300 gram het lavender female who finally eats f/t and gave me 5 good eggs. But she gives even live rats the evil eye and won't bite.
Yup. I refuse to feed mice to ANY of our balls unless it means life or death. If I have a REAL problem feeder I use the good ole ASF trick. Better than a mouse, but not quite as good as a nice fat rat. I've got one female that had always been a rat eater that up and decided one day she doesn't want them anymore. After letting her get good and hungry I offered her an asf scented rat. Nope, still stubborn. I finally gave in and offered her an actual asf. She has been slamming them like crazy! Now that she is eating like a champ again, next comes the task of switching her back to rats, which hopefully isn't going to mean lots of scenting and waiting.

So as long as your ball is a healthy and has good weight on them, a little waiting isn't going to hurt them. Just be patient and you'll prevail.