Having Patience

[meowmeowkazoo]

I'm seriously considering selling my spider ball python, Charlotte. She is 1375 grams; so close to breeding size, yet such a picky eater.

She's been this way her entire life (almost three years). At first she would only eat live mice. I finally got her to accept live ASFs, but she will only eat hoppers. Anything larger seems to intimidate her.

I don't have a huge operation where I constantly have hoppers available, and I don't want to start breeding mice again.

I've been thinking of selling her and buying a bumblebee female that eats on rats or ASFs.

If I got her to breed, would she be less of a picky eater? My other two balls, Spot and Fabio, are great eaters. It's so frustrating.

Husbandry is fine, so please don't post telling me to check temperatures/humidity/etc. I have tried literally every combination of hides/no hides/substrates/cage size/etc with no difference in her eating habits at all. It's just the way she is.

I guess my question is - would it be a waste to sell her now right before she's ready to breed? I wanted to pair her up with my really nice pastel butter male (my avatar), but dealing with her feeding habits is starting to wear me down.

[RobNJ]

Don't let your balls break you!

Honestly, I think you may regret selling a girl that you've had for a while that is SO close. Plus, selling her as a near breeding sized, yet picky eater may not get you close to the value you put on her. It's entirely possible(that I've heard of) for a picky eater to go on and breed and entirely change feeding habits afterwards.

[Mike41793]

Don't let your balls break you!

Honestly, I think you may regret selling a girl that you've had for a while that is SO close. Plus, selling her as a near breeding sized, yet picky eater may not get you close to the value you put on her. It's entirely possible(that I've heard of) for a picky eater to go on and breed and entirely change feeding habits afterwards.

x2 ive heard that before too.
Weight is just as important as age. If shes 3 years old or older and at that weight i say go for it and try to breed her!

[meowmeowkazoo]

Don't let your balls break you!

Honestly, I think you may regret selling a girl that you've had for a while that is SO close. Plus, selling her as a near breeding sized, yet picky eater may not get you close to the value you put on her. It's entirely possible(that I've heard of) for a picky eater to go on and breed and entirely change feeding habits afterwards.

Yeah, I have read about females being amazing eaters while developing eggs and after laying, but part of me feels like that would be too good to be true. My husband and I are moving out of state in two months, and by then she will probably be up to weight. I guess I could wait until then and see how she's doing once we've settled into our new home.

It's so frustrating watching her cruise around her tub getting more and more anxious when I put an ASF in there, only to recoil when she actually bumps into it. Obviously there's a bit of a 'wobble' issue, but she mostly just seems really dumb. As long as the ASF is nice and small she eats it immediately.

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x2 ive heard that before too.
Weight is just as important as age. If shes 3 years old or older and at that weight i say go for it and try to breed her!

Yeah, I think I will try after we have moved. I wouldn't want to risk having a clutch of eggs to transport during a 3 day drive.