Picky eater cured tonight

[Plissken]

Arnold is the pickiest eater on the planet. Last month he went a month without eating and I finally caved and tried a live mouse....refused several times, but finally ate one. Tried again for the next few weeks with no luck. It's been three weeks and he's been refusing my f/t rats. I thaw them out, then run them under hot water in a zip- lock to get the temp up, then run a little hot water on them to get a good scent going...no luck :-(
Tonight I did the same thing, but added a step. I took a shot glass and put some chicken broth in it, then nukes it for 30 sec, then dumped it in the zip lock so the rat was covered. Lowered the rat near arnold's hide...he hid for about a second, head came out and tongue flicked once, then... Boom! He struck and wrapped around that rat and held it tight...it was a thing of beauty...hope this helps anyone out there who's having the same problem with their balls...I'll sleep better tonight :-)

[Skittles1101]

Congrats! Seems like a good idea too.

[Raf702]

Great stuff! I also heard putting some tuna juices on F/T mice/rat have the same affect.

[Johan]

Great stuff! I also heard putting some tuna juices on F/T mice/rat have the same affect.

I wonder if that would work for my ball. Her name is tuna afterall :p

[j_h_smith]

A trick I've used on neonates is to coat the rodent with a little baby food. You know, the kind out of a bottle, Chicken Noodle to be exact.

They say there's an enzyme added to the food to promote eating. I started this almost 20 years ago with colubrids and sand boas.

I guess you gotta find what will work for you and your snakes.

Congrats!
Jim Smith

[PweEzy]

cool trick. I will have to try this with my picky girl. After you dump the broth in the bag do you dry off the rat or just offer it soaked? Also, is anyone familiar with any negative side effects of doing this? Just curious if any kind of preservatives or ingredients in the broth would have ANY kind of negative effect?

Thanks again for the neat trick and I'll let ya know if it works for me too!

[Plissken]

I left it wet, more smell that way and it stayed hot when served. I only put about 1/4 of a shot glass in, so there really wasn't very much..just enough to make Arnold's mouth water...if he had salivary glands : )
I don't think that small amount of chicken broth would harm a snake and him eating is well worth it...i just considered it his diet cheating night LOL

[wax32]

Glad it worked for you! I have never had any luck with this method... I still occasionally try it though.