I had a little girl that was a very difficult feeder. She would strike & coil, but then not eat her prey. I tried both live & f/t, and it didn't seem to make much difference. A few things that did at least seem to help:
- I think security was her big issue. A small, perfectly tight hide was a must. The room needed to be dark & quiet. If she happened to need her cage cleaned on feeding day, I learned to skip feeding her. There was no chance she'd eat after having been messed around with that day.
- She seemed more likely to eat smaller prey items than appropriately sized ones.
- For a while, it seemed like if I got the head of a f/t mouse SUPER hot before offering it to her, she was more likely to eat it. My theory was that the excitement of striking & coiling was so scary to her that she was too scared to eat immediately afterwards, and by the time she was feeling braver, the mouse had gotten too cold. Having the head really hot might have allowed it to stay warm enough long enough to encourage her to eat it.
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