Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My female Miami Phase is refusing to even consider eating any fuzzies with hair!!
Any suggestions?
The last 3 feeds (5 day cycle) have consisted of her resting her head on the item and me finding the 'hairy one' uneaten the next morning. I have been strict and not offered her anything other different until today - she looked at the hairy thing for about 20 minutes and I then swapped it for a hairless fuzzy which she dispached in seconds! I then reintroduced the fuzzy fuzzy and she's again using it as a pillow!

(she's always been a bit fussy and I always brain her food before its offered)

. . . I had a similar problem with my motley sunglow. She was eating pinks - but as soon as I put in a nice fuzzy, BAM - she shut down for a month. I got her back on tiny pinks, then at the next feeding I slipped in two tiny pinks, which she gulped down. Last week I put in a tiny pink and a slightly hairy fuzzy - small and just getting fur. She powered both of them down.

I put both of the mice in there at the same time. I'll keep moving her up with a small pink and a increasingly larger fuzzy. It's working so far.

I hope this helps. But I'm sure that there are many more experienced corn breeders than I who may have better advice.

Good luck
-----
Monte Meyer
Powergeckos
Email

No Fru-Fru morphs in the herp room

Thanks for the advice Monte.
It's very frustrating at the moment! She 'almost' recognises the hairy fuzzy as food but won't take that final step. Your advice to offer a pinky as an aperitif followed by the main course fuzzy sounds about right - I'll give it a go and let you know how she gets on.

I've also used the method of offering two small items, then working in the next size up prey after the appetizer. Instead of the actual haired variety of fuzzy, you might look at starting with what RodentPro calls peach fuzzies - just barely a coat of fuzz there. Picky eaters can drive you crazy. lol

N/P
-----
Chantel a.k.a. sillygirl
"I came, I saw, I adopted"

2.4.0 green anoles (Stumpy (M)), and the rest remain nameless.
2.2.0 green tree frogs (Romeo & Juliet, Bonnie & Clyde)
0.0.3 D. tinctorius (Cobalt froglets)
0.0.1 Anerythristic 'B' (Charcoal)corn snake (Popcorn)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (KandyKorn)
0.2 Amel Corns (KornSilk & KornMuffin)
0.0.1 Giant African Millipede
2.4 Domestic house cats (Bad Boy (m), Bart(m),Sasha(F),Little Bit(F),Spirit(F)
1.0 Rottweiler (Jake)
1.2 Rats (new additions with no names yet)
1.0 Husband (David, who loves all my critters too)

To non-herp lovers this would seem like extreme behaviour!! However this did cross my mind as well when Milly was just eyeing up the Hairy Thing last night!
What would you use? An electric razor or one of those things for bobbles on sweaters (they're called 'fuzzaway' in the uk - apt don't you think??)

My husband bought one of those electric ear/nose hair trimmers (I scared him when I used my pinky scissors on him *EG*) and I played with it a little and actually that would probably work great. But it depends, are we talking a live mouse or a dead one?
-----
Chantel a.k.a. sillygirl
"I came, I saw, I adopted"

2.4.0 green anoles (Stumpy (M)), and the rest remain nameless.
2.2.0 green tree frogs (Romeo & Juliet, Bonnie & Clyde)
0.0.3 D. tinctorius (Cobalt froglets)
0.0.1 Anerythristic 'B' (Charcoal)corn snake (Popcorn)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (KandyKorn)
0.2 Amel Corns (KornSilk & KornMuffin)
0.0.1 Giant African Millipede
2.4 Domestic house cats (Bad Boy (m), Bart(m),Sasha(F),Little Bit(F),Spirit(F)
1.0 Rottweiler (Jake)
1.2 Rats (new additions with no names yet)
1.0 Husband (David, who loves all my critters too)

Could always switch to hairless rat (the adult is hairless) pups.

Well you're just being silly now aren't you! They wouldn't keep still and you'd end up with a very lop-sided haircut. Anyway, what would you talk about? I don't think mice like football and need a passport to leave the country - so holidays are out!

That's why my husband calls me Sillygirl, it's even tattooed on the back of his neck.

But the thought was somewhat serious, if you really wanted to, you COULD shave a mouse (dead one would sit still longer), and I suppose there's always waxing...But I don't the snake would care for the taste of NAIR .
-----
Chantel a.k.a. sillygirl
"I came, I saw, I adopted"

2.4.0 green anoles (Stumpy (M)), and the rest remain nameless.
2.2.0 green tree frogs (Romeo & Juliet, Bonnie & Clyde)
0.0.3 D. tinctorius (Cobalt froglets)
0.0.1 Anerythristic 'B' (Charcoal)corn snake (Popcorn)
0.0.1 Snow Corn (KandyKorn)
0.2 Amel Corns (KornSilk & KornMuffin)
0.0.1 Giant African Millipede
2.4 Domestic house cats (Bad Boy (m), Bart(m),Sasha(F),Little Bit(F),Spirit(F)
1.0 Rottweiler (Jake)
1.2 Rats (new additions with no names yet)
1.0 Husband (David, who loves all my critters too)

I went right from the fuzzy stage to rat pinks with my growing ratsnakes. They all switched over right away without hesitation.
Good luck. Duffy

Had some success - she ate the single one offered to her last night - a Black fuzzy! - Perhaps it's the white mice she has a problem with??
Haven't tried the razor yet!!