We got our male in September, he was 1560 grams and we were told he would eat no problem. he didn't eat after the first week (considered that due to stress and didn't worry) then he went into shed twice in 3 weeks. he then one full month into us having him ate his first meal. it has been almost 2 months scene then and other then that one rat he has not eaten. he refused both live and stunned rats. we tried a mouse and that seemed to anger him and made him start to defensively strike at everything. the people we had gotten him from said he only get's "bitty" when hungry so we tried a med rat and he struck several times but all defensively. the only reason i am asking this is he is starting to lose weight faster then that first month, he has gone down almost 50 grams in 2 weeks. he is just hovering over 1500 grams now. should i assist feed him if he refuses this week or wait longer. i know some have gone 10 months but i don't want to have any undo harm to the boy as he was my first and still has a huge place in my heart. i have been trying to find information on larger male's and their feeding habits but most people don't provide the weights of their males and the behavior they just either say they have this huge boy or they don't include the results of the hunger striking.

we do have him in a rack with 2 1500 gram females. we are trying to get a new rack for our adult girls based on the idea that the smell of the girls might be making him unhungry for food and hungry for something else.

we keep the tubs (28 q) at 79 cold side, 90 hot side, and he has a large water bowl (he actually likes to put his head in and keep just his snout poking out of it some times). is there more i should do? wait more time? get the girls out and it might go away? i knew getting an adult male was a risk of hunger strikes but i just want to make sure he is getting the same care from me that he would from some one with more experience then my self.

any tips from any one with experience is appreciated.