Anything you can do about picky eaters?

[Galaxygirl]

He's a little on the thinner side. He's a bit sunken in at certain angles.

[piedlover79]

Here is a really weird trick that I've never tried but a breeder told me has worked for him with picky eaters in the past. Hard boil an egg, cut the egg in half, rub the egg on the rat and then offer the rat. The rat doesn't need to be covered in it or anything, just kind of scent rubbed. I've also heard of people putting tuna water (the juice from canned tuna in water) on rats for a kick start. Also try the same trick with a mouse, some bp are mouse eaters for life no matter how big they get.

[ALBINO IGUANA]

I have a few dozen tricks. I will start with a couple more obvious ones that are worth trying first. A new food item will sometimes really spark something. I would try an African Soft Fur or go to a pet shop and buy a Gerbil. In my experience, a Gerbil really gives off a scent that perks up a BP. Try a Gerbil first and if that doesn't work, try an African Soft Fur. Good Luck and please keep us posted.

[Galaxygirl]

I was thinking about getting a gerbil.. Maybe I'll try that

[Prognathodon]

Try nicking a pre-killed feeder in the throat and squeezing some blood (or other bodily fluid) out, just a drop or two - gets their attention and tells them "food", without being very gruesome. If you have a f/t feeder that's leaked blood from the muzzle you can skip the knife work and just squeeze a bit more out.

[d_b]

African soft fur...

[Galaxygirl]

African soft fur...

Know where to get some? No pet stores around here carry them.

[Galaxygirl]

When I received him he was 282g, and he is down to 255 now. As he is a 2014 I am concerned about his size.. I don't know how small is too small for his age. He doesn't look emaciated, but is pretty angular with his spine. He still will not eat mice or rats. He shows some interest but wont go for them. Really don't want to feed him ASF or Gerbils unless absolutely necessary. Tried assist feeding once and he spat it out over and over again for an hour. I held it in his throat for 15 minutes at a time and then would let him go, and he would just spit it out. Do I try something smaller and use tongs to massage it down his throat further?

Would the next step be:

Continue to leave him be and offer a mouse/rat every 7/10 days?
Assist feed again
Try ASF/Gerbils - I didn't want to do this as I didn't want a special eater, but I'd definitely do it if now is the time.. I think I've given him enough time to go for the rats/mice...

Thanks for advice, never had a difficult eater like this.

[Galaxygirl]

After trying many methods. Paper bag overnight, leaving mice fuzzies / rat pups over night, scenting with tuna, smaller enclosure, more hides, etc. I decided to buy him that $15 gerbil from Petco, which he proceeded to eat. Ideally it's not awesome to have him on gerbils price wise, but it's definitely better than nothing. I'm just glad he ate, and now I can work to switching him to rats using gerbil bedding and maybe chain feeding.

[Albinoballpython]

I literally just had this problem with my 2015 3 month old albino ball. My post is probably a week old. He wouldn't eat for a month from when I got him and I tried absolutely everything, frozen, live, offering at different times of the day, scenting he had no interest in the food. As a last resort I got a live mouse, stuck both of them in a plastic bin and closed the lid and covered it all over with black paper (as long as its dark) and just peeped in if I heard any noise or stayed close just in case. After 30 minutes of cornflake trying to escape paying to attention to the mouse he finally sat on the bottom, when I had given up and was about to take him out he snapped, coiled, and ate. I don't know if he was just annoyed with the mouse sniffing him and killed it to get rid of it or if his instincts kicked in but he ate and that's all that mattered. Cornflakes had became so skinny I could see his back bone all the way down, his neck was to small and if was to the point where if he didn't eat that day I was gonna have to force feed him. Try this and see if it helps. It was the only thing that worked for me.
P.S. I also put a drop of tuna water on the lives head, I don't believe this mattered to him since he was not interested for 30 minutes until he realized he couldn't get out it was him and the mouse but it's worth a shot, I will be using this method in the future to try to wean him into eatting frozen.)

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