Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need to switch asf feeders to f/t rats.

They will not eat.

They were raised on live mice, and then went off feed, and someone told me to try asf's.

I did and they have been eating asf's for about a year, and then about 2 months ago I tried to switch to f/t rats because I am tired of caring for the asf's that don't get eaten.

I figured they would get hungry enough that they would eventually take what I gave them, but it's not working.

I then caved and tried to give them asf's again, and most of them wont even eat that now. I am lost. I am looking for any and ALL suggestions.

The room is a typical (small) condo bed room.

It is kept at 85 degrees using an oil filled heater and a thermostat.

The belly heat is provided by a heat rope kept at 89-91.

They were on cypress mulch, tonight I switched to paper towel substrate.

They is no hide in any of their bins.

The rack is made of regular plywood that is now about 5 years old.

All the snakes in the rack keep to the OTHER side of the bin (they are 41Q tubs in horizontal cubbies)

I think it's because of where the window is.

Tonight I covered the window with a dark sheet, so I am hoping this will aid in getting them to reside on the warm side of the bin.

I am beginning to think that they might not feel secure in a horizontal rack.

I gave as much info as I could to help you help me, so if I am leaving something out just ask.

I have a similar setup as you. I have a couple of plywood racks which are 8 levels but they are not next to a window. Maybe you should try giving them a hides. Whenever I acquire or have a mice feeder and I want to switch them to rats or frozen, I do the old swictharoo. Assist feeding is not an option for adult or sub adult. Maybe you should try live rats or gerbils and if they seem interested quickly switch to what you want them to eat. This method is not always successful but it has worked for me. But I really think you should add hides to see if that helps.

Steven

thank you, I will try that.

It is no surprise they are hesitant to switch to f/t rats. It may take a while to get them all switched over, especially if you were feeding live ASFs before.

Every time I start to notice my snakes hanging out in the cooler sides of the tubs I expect them to fast, and so far that has held true. I'm not entirely sure why they make the choice they do. Maybe they put on enough calories in a short time and want a break, maybe they are performing gonadal recrudescence, maybe something upset their routine, or sometimes a large dominant male is in a tub neighboring a smaller male.

I would say if they aren't suffering from not eating, give them more time. When they start to lose weight, then start to get concerned. Change things up for them: new substrate, more light, less light, hides in the tubs, larger water dishes, higher humidity, put them through a cooling period, change up food sources again, etc.
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Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.0 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

thank you. I will try hides, cooling, and more humidity. If nothing works, I will rearrange the whole room.....again.

welcome to my world....

gerbils, ASFR, Chinese hamsters,rats,mice,and nothing...

...I would say....use cypress, wet it a little, use hides, keep away from window but don't cover it....80 to 88 is all good....use live rats for awhile.....then try dead.....

if they are still being stupid...LOL...switch cages...top to bottom bottom to the top etc....I had a girl looked hot and a girl looked cold..the hot ate mice the cold one ate only ASF...I switched and they both eat rats ,mice,ASF etc etc....and the three hets between them won't eat rats yet...(5 het amels in a rack)....

.......Talk to them.....
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................JY

Give them a nice hide on the warm side of the enclosure. Once they feel comfortable in there they will spend most of their time in there with just their heads facing toward to only hide opening. Then wiggle a rat right in front of the entrance to the hide or set a fresh killed at the hide entrance. It has worked for me 8 out of 10 times. The other times I just switched the ones that did not eat into the slots for ones that had. One of my snakes will only eat if he is the third drawer up from the floor, no matter what or which rack he is in just keep him close to the floor but not on it and no problems. Sometimes it is just small changes that trigger the ideal response.

Thank you for your help guys/gals. I got almost all of them on live rats. 2 are mousers that are being stubborn, and one that is still not happy, so I have more work to do with her. And 3 are already taking f/t now. Thanks again for the help, things are starting to look good now.