Question about 22 month 700g butter female

[Chewy]

I have an almost 22 month old that is 673g, she's is super picky and only eats mice, I've tried to switch her to rats so I can start packing weight on her but she wont even come out her hide to look at them! I had her in a 32qt tub but she wouldn't eat, I tried a 16qt and she'll only eat mice with a hide in it... but atleast I got her to eat. She's been off feed for 15 days now so I'm thinking next time tossing a rat pup in with her that is scented in mouse bedding(it gets her looking at the rat but won't eat them...) and keep trying for a few weeks rats only to get her on them... Gives me time for my mice to breed as well.

What do you recommend me trying to do? I want to breed this girl but she is so small... I bought her for $620 being told she's 770grams, got home and she was 600g but long, you can tell she's a 2010.

Should I try to switch her to ASF? I've heard ASF eaters pack weight on like no tomorrow! This girl is almost ready for breeding if only she was bigger...

[masonhall]

Yeah I would switch her to asf If you think that is best. I. Great thing I do is but the rodent in a box next to the cage for ten mins or so to get the scent there. The snake should be out and about.

Ps that is an extremely high price! But if you can breed her it will pay off.


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[Slim]

I agree that getting her on rats is the way to go, but some of them never make the switch.

Will she eat multiple mice at one feeding? Is she too picky to try feeding every 5 days? I know we usually only feed juveniles that often, but I've seen it used successfully for adult mousers who only want one item per feeding.

[DooLittle]

I would try the rat pup thing. If you have afs try one of those. But even my picky mojo doesn't always care for the afs. Bp can be very tricky when it comes to food. Also, are you moving her to this tub to eat, or is it the tub she lives in? If you are moving her, stop, and try to feed her in her enclosure. Leave a rat pup that still has its eyes closed in with her, and leave her alone. Usually they will dissapear.

[adamfritzsche]

I myself have not had a picky eater...yet, but I do look at posts like this so I know what to do when the time comes. I have seen others mention that taking a rat and rubbing it around in a mouse cage (or in a little mouse urine) to get the mouse scent on it has worked for some.

[4Ballz]

for my female, I breed my own rats and mice. I would put the rat in the mouse environment to get the smell on it. Snake had no issues eating it. Now, I don't have to do that now.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

If you truly have a picky eater changing prey type may not do anything.

I have a female hypo that barely passed the 1200 grams mark at 4 years old, I tried it all but she would eat one week and be off feed the next two or three months, nothing made it better.

At 1200 grams I decided to breed her anyway, she laid her eggs recently and since than is eating like there is no tomorrow.

I am crossing my fingers hoping breeding jumped start her metabolism in some ways, will see.

Keep your female in a 15 quarts as long as possible provide extra security and see if a different prey will work and if it does not than you know that you came across a truly picky eater and only time and patience will help.

[RobNJ]

Great post Deb...sometimes there is just nothing you can do. At nearly 2 years old, changing here eating habits may be a bit of a pipe dream. I have a 3+ year old female cinny that's not even 700 grams. She eats pretty well 3-4 months out of the year, spotty at best the rest of the time. She will randomly eat mice or rats, but never either consistently.

[angllady2]

ASF are not the magic solution everyone says they are. Try mouse scented rats first. Maybe try letting her go for two or three weeks without offering to let her get good and hungry.

Otherwise, as Deborah said, there is not much you can do.

Gale

[BFE Pets]

I had simular thing with a lesser female. she would only eat mice but would always take two each feeding. so I started scenting rat pups and she wouldnt take it. after several trys I gave her a small mouse first then the scented rat pup and to my suprise she took the rat as the second food item. 4x of mouse then scented rat then 2 or 3 times of just mouse scented rats and now shes hammering f/t rats before i get them all the way into the tub. on the other side of the coin ive got a 4 year old normal male that only eats mice and im lucky to get him to eat every third week. He's tipping the scales at a whopping 622 grams. i've never used him for breeding he's sorta my personal pet. I rescued him from terrible conditions as a baby. good luck and happy herping