Reptile & Amphibian Forums

been feeding frozen thawed for awhile now and the only way i seem to be able to get my critters to feed consistenly is by heating up their food and presenting it with tongs to entice a strike.

I just assumed my way of feeding them (warming and enticing) was just the way it was done, but my collection is growing(six females, 1 spider and 1 pastel male) and i'm slowly realizing how impractical that method is.

1st Question: when you feed yours f/t, do you just leave it in the cage thawed, or do you have to present the food warm and on tongs (as if it were live)?

2nd Question: i have tried just leaving the prey items in the cage, with no luck. any ideas?

Regardless, my critters are starting to get irregular even with the warming/enticing method. The temps have not changed despite being exposed to a shorter photoperiod (i did not realize this mattered since bp's are from an area in africa where the hours of daylight do not change from season to season)Could it be just from the time of year/season/photoperiod?

I had been waiting to cool since my spider is teetering being big enough to even attempt breeding (just under 500 grams) and now my females have gone off feed

sigh, my females are over the 1300 gram mark totally empty, but for their length they need more weight/meals before breeding

There are several factors that could be involved in your case. First, some snakes are finicky eaters, but, the odds of all of yours being so is pretty slim.

I've got a Corn, a Burmese, and a BP that'll readily eat F/T off the floor of the cage. I've got another Burmese, the brother of the other one, that has to be enticed every now & then. He's not as much of an eater as his sister. I always warm my F/T rats. A rat's body temperature is aprox. 100 degrees.

My female Burmese will readily eat every week but the male will only readily eat every 10 - 14 days.

Have you tried waiting longer between feedings so that they're hungrier? Sometimes, by waiting another week or two to feed, they're more ready to feed and should be easier to transition into eating prey placed on the floor instead of from tongs.

You can even try holding the prey lower each feeding to where the last few feedings they take it from the tongs but the prey is actually on the floor or just above.

A lot of times they have the tendency to expect prey to come from above and won't even look at ground level. You might have train them to do it. F/T prey can be left in the cage for a few hours before it starts to get to stiff.

Maybe even entice them with the first prey and lay the second one in front of them and leave it for awhile. Might even need to cover the front of the cage with something so they can't see you to keep them from being distracted by your movements while you feed the others.

Shortened photoperiods, alone, can decrease appetite. I honestly don't know if it happens in the with BPs wild but I do believe that this instinct can come from generations in captivity.

Sorry this ended up being so long but I was just trying to give you plenty of possibilities.

Take care!
Mike
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

yea thx man

i forgot to mention the fact that the rest of my collection, especially the smaller individuals, are still very eager feeders.

(my spider seems to just always want food)

i figure its environmental to some degree in that they all went off feed simultaneously

but thanks again all input is really appreciated