Quote Originally Posted by mattchibi View Post
Are you getting any defensive strikes or strikes at all when you offer the f/t rats? Are they lifting their heads or showing interest to the food? And have you tried laying the f/t rat down in the tub and turning off the lights and waiting 30 minutes?

For some of my ball pythons, the ones that love to really stay in their hides, I actually take out their hides and anything that will get in the way about 30 minutes prior to feeding. I also try to pre-scent the room by blowdrying my rats a little before offering.

My pastave behaved exactly as you are saying. When I offered f/t, he showed absolutely no interest. I took off the hide once and he would just start roaming and even came right out of his tub, but paid zero attention to the f/t rat I was dangling. I eventually caved (he was only 200 grams, so it was unhealthy for him not to eat) and fed him about 8 times live rats. Just a few days ago I offered a f/t rat pup for the first time just to see if he would take it and surprisingly he did. So you just have to figure out what works with them, they will all eat eventually so try not to worry too much!
The male shows interest, the two females just roam. The male has given me a defensive strike, but he was in shed and I did not know it (short blue period+being left alone due to acclimation). The male wants to eat, he raises up and looks ready, then it seems as if he just gives up. I always leave the thawed rat in the tub to give them a shot at eating on their own in the dark.