Q: switching BPs to new food?

[mainbutter]

So I've read all about how some BPs just don't take to a different kind of rodent, switching to/from ASFs and rats etc..

I was just wondering, will snakes actually starve themselves to death because they don't get the exact same white mouse that they've been used to? Or is it that people just stop trying after a week or two, and declare a snake "unable" to switch to the new kind of food.

[blackcrystal22]

In the wild things are obviously much different, including their food source.

Some snakes, will never take another type of food, and are just picky. Some of my mouse eaters that were strictly LIVE MOUSE and nothing else, just started taking ASFs with a push.

It can really depend, but most snakes will go through the transition well.

[starmom]

Yes- my hypo female was actually starving herself because she would not take a f/t rat. The breeder who I purchased her from said she was eating f/t and I have no reason to doubt that it was the truth. However, she would not eat for me. She was starving. I had blinders on and actually didn't even consider feeding her live (all my other snakes eat f/t). Becky stepped in and (in the way Becky has) no-nonsensically told me that I might want to keep her alive and feed her live. Lol!! The snake has taken live mice ever since and is now hovering around 500g (finally) and eating like a charm!!!

[tweets_4611]

Some snakes really will starve themselves. Some just take a whole lot of patience and persistence to switch their food. It depends on the person trying to switch them how long they will let them go with out eating before they quit trying.

Those snakes that starve themselves are the ones that wouldn't survive in the wild. Breeding them in captivity and catering to them like we do allows a much larger number of snakes to survive...