Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an adult pair of GTP's, and I can't get either of them to take f/t rats. I raised the male from a baby (he's now 3 years old) and I bought the female as an adult (she's 4 years old now). I've never gotten the female to take f/t. The male used to take f/t until he went on a hunger strike at about 2 years old. The only way I found to get him to eat again was to give him live rats. Ever since then that's the only thing he'll touch. I've tried scenting the rats with chicken and rubbing them with lizards. So, I was just wondering if you guys have any other tricks up your sleeve?

Also, I just moved to Atlanta, and the only place I've found to get live rats is at Petco. They charge $7.00/rat. So, if anyone knows of a better supplier on the north side of the city, I'd appreciate the info.

Thanks,
Geary

What I do when feeding my Emeralds and Chondros frozen thawed is I let the rats thaw out from when I wake up in the morning till about 9pm. I never use wet rats. I feed all the animals with 24 inch tongs and I never touch the snake with the rat I just move the rat around a few inchs from them and they usually will attack anything at night anyways. In the case of yours not wanting them I thaw them out the same way then about 5 min before feeding I put them in a freezer bag and put the rats in hot water from the tub (I noticed my sankes wont eat wet rats so I always keep them dry) take one rat at a time out of the bag and put the others back in the hot water. I feed them the same way as I said up top and the ones that would not eat always I say again always eat these. Just never touch the snake and sometimes it help to move the rat past their face rather fast then move around below once you have their attention. Several of the snake I own the other owners never were able to feed them frozen thawed.

All of them eat frozen thawed now. Its safer and alot cheaper to feed frozen thawed it just takes a little time to learn how to do it.

Tim Rash
www.nocturnal-creations.com

oh and you mentioned they wont eat a wet rat.... what it sounded like you were doing was taking the rat and washing away the scent, so it may not have thought it smelled very tasty. just a thought.

however i also put all my mice in bags b4 defrosting.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

MY YOUNG CHONDRO I GOT SWITCHED OVER VERY FAST, I GOT IT WHEN IT WAS EATING LIVE SO FOR THE FIRST THREE FEEDINGS I FED IT LIVE TO MAKE SURE IT HAD A GOOD FEW MEALS IN IT. THEN I USED ONE LIVE AND ONE PREKILLED FOR TWO FEEDINGS THEN I USED TWO PREKILLED FOR TWO FEEDINGS THEN I USED ONE PREKILLED AND ONE FROZEN THEN JUST FROZEN

ADAM

Honestly, at this age it will be VERY hard to get them to convert. Not impossible, however. As another poster stated try feeding maybe one smaller live then a freshly killed one (whack its head on the table). Get it in feeding mode with a live one then offer one fresh killed, then work from there. I'ts gonna be a pain, however.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

have nothing to do with switching to frozen thawed. I've actually started a few hatchlings on frozen thawed pinks. Some will take a few live feedings to get used to have a meal and knowing exactly what to do with it. Once they get the feel of something in the stomach, it seems that the hunger reflex kicks in and they want to eat. I've also have a WC adult import female, straight from the boat, that after a few meals, took frozen thawed like a hungry swine. It's all independant on what the particular chondro wants.

Brandon Osborne

well i was suggesting to go a smaller mouse/rat because then the snake could safely consume two... one live and one fresh killed - without as big of a threat of regurg.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

well i was suggesting to go a smaller mouse/rat because then the snake could safely consume two... one live and one fresh killed - without as big of a threat of regurg

I think we misunderstood each other. All I was stating was, that size and age of the chondro doesn't really come into play when offering live or frozen thawed food. Those with great feeding responses usually will take either or regardless of age. For the picky ones, just warm them up a little and it usually does the trick.

Brandon

yep. misunderstanding lol. i have always been told it is easier to get a baby to switch over to f/t than it is for an adult.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

Try heating the rodents on a heat pad or under a lamp. Do not over heat, as this can cause the rodents to literally fall apart. What I do is, let them thaw to room temp and then heat them for about 20 minutes or so on a large piece of heat tape. Keep them dry too. Good luck.

Brandon Osborne