Truthfully if the snake is healthy enough to begin with it is extremely doubtful that it would purposely starve itself to death while still being offered f/t if they are prepared right. They do eventually give in, but most people seem to make the same mistake I did when my problem feeder was young and refused to switch for me and start giving them live just because you're afraid they're starving. Trust me, if they get hungry enough, and aren't sick, they will eat.
My boy went off feed a month before he started breeding my female, and stayed off feed for 6 whole months during breeding and after the fact with absolutely no ill effects. Once he was ready he started eating again no problem. People really do have a hard time believing how hardy these snakes can be when in good health.
Just don't give in and keep going back to live, every single time you do that you just make it that much harder to convince them to go with f/t. I delayed my boys switch by a year by giving in to him the first few months because I kept being afraid after 3-4 weeks of not eating that he was going to starve and die. I just ended up doing more harm than good with that mind set. If I would have just stuck with it and kept offering him f/t like I finally started doing after 3 months of struggling from the very beginning, then it wouldn't have taken nearly as long and wouldn't have been so difficult to get him on f/t and a regular schedule.
Reply With Quote