Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a female BRB that refuses to eat f/t. She will only accept large live fuzzies...sometimes She eats every 10-14 days if that and takes two to three per feeding. My records are at home, but she was born around 9/16/08. I also have a male BRB, born around 10/20/08 and he is twice her size now b/c he eats like a champ on f/t every week. I have them setup up exactly the same way. My temps are as follows, 72-73 undercool hide with damp moss, 80-82 under warm hide, relative humidity around 80-85%. My question is this. Do any of you have any BRBs that are real problem feeders? I know she eats occasionally so shes not starving, but I am just concerned. I wish I could get her converted over to f/t b/c live rodents that size are hard to come by around here. I have tried all methods of conveting a snake over with success with some of my other animals, but not this girl! Any suggestions?
-----
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Savanna Monitor
0.1 BCC
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 BRB
1.0 Crazy meowing all the time cat rescued from local pet store

I have left a F/T in an open container and placed that with the snake overnight - and this has worked. I usually feed in more daylight hours and since the snakes are nocturnal this has seemed to work. I have one that I have not been able to get switched to f/t. I have a couple of places to get live feeders - so it is not an issue. Also, I would try feeding her larger mice - like a weaned or hopper. Fuzzies are on the small side for BRB's - as they can take very large meals. You could even go to a small adult mouse too.

Also, what temp is the f/t at? I make sure my f/t are fully thawed and then in zip-lock bags I put them in 105 degree water to bring their temps up for about 20 to 30 minutes.
-----
Mike

7.13 BRB
1.2 Spotted Python
1.0 Cal. King

I would not worry too much about her size - as she is geting food on a regular basis. People feed BRB's at different rates and you are probable on the conservative side and not in danger of under feeding.
-----
Mike

7.13 BRB
1.2 Spotted Python
1.0 Cal. King

Tried leaving in overnight as well with no luck. I have tried putting larger prey in there but she will not even get close to it. Thats why I have been staying on the small side. I thaw the prey then place it in warm water which raises it temps to 90-93 degrees, which is what a live one reads with a temp gun.
-----
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Savanna Monitor
0.1 BCC
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 BRB
1.0 Crazy meowing all the time cat rescued from local pet store

Maybe you can try letting her go without food for an additional week or two before the next feeding. If I'm understanding correctly, she's about 4 months old and eating 3 fuzzies every 10 to 14 days. That doesn't seem to be abnormal at all. If anything, it sounds like she's eating well. Maybe if she really
gets hungry, there will be more incentive to take a f/t mouse.

Thanks,
Ed

>>I have a female BRB that refuses to eat f/t. She will only accept large live fuzzies...sometimes She eats every 10-14 days if that and takes two to three per feeding. My records are at home, but she was born around 9/16/08. I also have a male BRB, born around 10/20/08 and he is twice her size now b/c he eats like a champ on f/t every week. I have them setup up exactly the same way. My temps are as follows, 72-73 undercool hide with damp moss, 80-82 under warm hide, relative humidity around 80-85%. My question is this. Do any of you have any BRBs that are real problem feeders? I know she eats occasionally so shes not starving, but I am just concerned. I wish I could get her converted over to f/t b/c live rodents that size are hard to come by around here. I have tried all methods of conveting a snake over with success with some of my other animals, but not this girl! Any suggestions?
>>-----
>>1.0 Green Iguana
>>1.0 Savanna Monitor
>>0.1 BCC
>>1.0 Ball Python
>>1.1 BRB
>>1.0 Crazy meowing all the time cat rescued from local pet store

She'll come around, dont worry about her growing, she's eating plenty..enough that she's probably not hungry enough to bother with f/t. Here's how I'd approach it...

Let her take her live fuzzy as usual, then put a pre-killed one to her and see if she'll eat it. If not, stop there. 1 fuzzy is plenty fine for her for a single meal, let her get hungry before the next feed. Eventually she'll pick up that 2nd pre-killed critter. Once she does that consistently, stun the live critter and have her take that plus a more cooled pre-killed. Continue with this tactic until you've got her taking fresh thawed for her second course, then transition entirely to f/t.

Or...you can be impatient like me and put fresh quail liver on the face of the fresh thawed and pester her with it, that gets my fussiest eater to grab the f/t prey just about every time. If you dont have quail, a chick or mouse will probably do.
-----
Julie
www.[url ban]/gfx

Yes there are BRB's that can be problme feeders. Few and far between though, you just got lucky??

All the listed tricks and tips are great, but on a few rare cases simply don't work. The one tip that almost always does work is let her get hungry!!!! When she's hungry enough, she'll eat damn near anything!!

One of my prize animals (Amber) was a hesitant eater, only wanted mice and not every week. Due to that she grew slower than other holdbacks from the same year. While several of those sucessfully bred last year, she was clearly too small. Then one day she took a rat and liked it. Ever since she decided rats are yummy she's been growing great and is now large enough to breed.

One other trick I've used to get food into those that want small prey is chase feeding. Give them the little snack they like to eat and have the larger food handy and BE READY. As the snake swallows the snack, there comes a time when it's just in the throat with mouth still open. Right then insert the head of the P/K or F/T feeder in right behind the snack. If done correctly at just the right time, the snake will continue swallowing and eat both. Just don't go too large on the chase feeder, don't want a regurge!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanks Dave. I will try the "chasing" method, as that is about the only one I havent tried!
-----
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Savanna Monitor
0.1 BCC
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 BRB
1.0 Crazy meowing all the time cat rescued from local pet store

Have you tried heating the prey up with a hair dryer before feeding it? Get em nice and toasty. That's what I do and my girls take them right away! But I am a novice...

>>I have a female BRB that refuses to eat f/t. She will only accept large live fuzzies...sometimes She eats every 10-14 days if that and takes two to three per feeding. My records are at home, but she was born around 9/16/08. I also have a male BRB, born around 10/20/08 and he is twice her size now b/c he eats like a champ on f/t every week. I have them setup up exactly the same way. My temps are as follows, 72-73 undercool hide with damp moss, 80-82 under warm hide, relative humidity around 80-85%. My question is this. Do any of you have any BRBs that are real problem feeders? I know she eats occasionally so shes not starving, but I am just concerned. I wish I could get her converted over to f/t b/c live rodents that size are hard to come by around here. I have tried all methods of conveting a snake over with success with some of my other animals, but not this girl! Any suggestions?
>>-----
>>1.0 Green Iguana
>>1.0 Savanna Monitor
>>0.1 BCC
>>1.0 Ball Python
>>1.1 BRB
>>1.0 Crazy meowing all the time cat rescued from local pet store

One thing I tried when I switched my Cali kingsnake (yes! A kingsnake that wouldn't eat!) from live to f/t, was what I like to call 'baiting.' I would go to the store, get a live mouse, and a frozen mouse, both of the same size. Since the snake was 100% eager to eat live mice, but not so enthusiastic about f/t, I figured that maybe I could 'warm him up' to the idea of f/t if I dangled a live mouse in front of him for a moment, just enough for him to smell, see, and get excited about food. Once he advanced towards the live mouse, i would quickly remove it and offer the f/t mouse instead. He usually always bit whatever was in front of him that smelled vaguely mouse-like at that point, so it worked!

I usually had to rub the f/t mouse against the live mouse's fur so it smelled a little more...'fresh.'

During that time I was also feeding him f/k here and there. In my experiences, snakes that don't go for f/t will sometimes go for f/k instead, which can be used to slowly transition them fully on to f/t once they get used to the idea that their prey is no longer moving.

Good luck, mate.
-----
Innocent as a dove you will harm no one, but wise as a serpent no one will harm you. - Haug