Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

scarlettvegetable

but....I have a Young royal, and mice are just too small to feed him now as he wont eat multiple items....but....He wont go anywhere near rats...any ideas for successfully converting him??

Thanks Laughing

mark · Captivebred Communist Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 1063

gerbils ?
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boas and burms

Dan · Captivebred Communist Joined: 08 Sep 2005 Posts: 1306

I wouldnt go down the gerbil route if i were you. Not yet anyway. I am a great believer in varying prey items but i think the most important thing to do is make sure they are happy on the main source before trialling others.

One method that can often work is to feed a smaller mouse than normal and have a small rat of approx same size there aswell. Often once the "feeding mechanism" kicks in they will just eat what ever is there. If it works you gradually increase the size of the rat while reducing the size of the mouse until mouse is no longer needed.

The other most succesfull method i know of for consistent feeders is "starvation". If you feed weekly then don't feed anything for 3 or 4 weeks, then offer an appropriately sized rat. Snakes can be stubborn and at times it pays to have a battle of wills. This small period of a few weeks will do no harm at all for the snake, they are designed to go months without food so a few weeks is nothing.

Alternatively you could try scenting. Wash a rat in warm water, dry it out and rub a mouse's genital area all over the rat. If it takes it ok next time try reducing size and offering two items, the first scented the second not.

Often it is trial and error, mix and match. What works for one snake may not work for another.
I am positive others will have ideas aswell, just keep trying until you hit the right plan or combination that works for you.

Good luck
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TFA

The future is bright, the future is a net like pattern.................

I'm NOT an expert, so if you don't want to know my opinion don't ask!!

mark · Captivebred Communist Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 1063

i heard a story the other day off someone who has a royal and it didnt eat for 9 months Shocked

wouldnt touch and kind of mouse dead or alive in the end they was looking to go down the dreaded force feeding route but didnt realy want to so they took it to a shop and the guy said have you tryed gerbils he said no so took it away and to his amazement it ate the gerbil and continued to do so every week and is now still a strong feeder but now on rats so dans right about once they start they seem to just carry on well in this guys case anyway Wink

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boas and burms

GAC · Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:08 pm Post subject:

i have a female royal that was a cracking feeder then october 2004 it stopped feeding and wouldnt show any intrest in food. then july last year she starts up again and is still fine.

didnt change anything from the prey item or enclouser size. so i guess its just one of them things.

scarlettvegetable · Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 5:11 pm Post subject:

2 of my old male royals didnt eat for 9 months, possibly longer, but it didnt do them any harm. They are designed to go long periods without food, I heard of someone who fed his royal one massive rat twice a year and it was fine! In the end I stopped defrosting food for them because it was just wasted, so if i was feeding one of my other snakes Id see if they wanted it, and one day after 9 months they did...so...meh...

But my royal now eats like a horse, but on tiny mice, well tiny to him anyway!he eats them as if they are sweets...but he will only eat one at a time...so I'll have to try an get him onto rats, coz I dont want to go down the gerbil route, I had a royal that got addicted...lol...and I dont particularly want to buy gerbils for the rest of his life, as they are 3 times the price of mice n rats!...

How about birds?can they eat them?like quails?Say if I gave him a quail once every now and again to boost him up a bit while hes eating the large mice...a small quail tho...I was just thinking that my carpet pythons were fussy and tryed them on quails and they were fine...but I guess a royal and a carpet python are slightly different...lol Laughing

Let me know aout the quails...

Thanks Laughing

Dan · Captivebred Communist Joined: 08 Sep 2005 Posts: 1306

A quail at that size would be lacking in any real amount of nutrients, much like a day old chick only not as bad.
Can't hurt though.........
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TFA

The future is bright, the future is a net like pattern.................

I'm NOT an expert, so if you don't want to know my opinion don't ask!!