Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[reptilefans]

Hi, I'm after some advice regarding feeding royals. Bought a male back in July o6 and added a female in September 06. Cannot weight them but they are not yearlings. Male was feeding well on Jumbo mice up until 17/10/06, female feeding up until 29/1/2007. they have not been chilled. heat mat set to 88 degrees and spot bulb on daily, air temperature during day gets to 86 degrees. They have a hide in both the cool and heated end of the viv plus a tub with sphagnum moss.

I have read and tried all of the hint's and tips available but to no avail and am now getting concerned as the male is beginning to look a little skinny. I have even thought about using mouse maker, but I'm not sure if this would make any difference. The point being would mouse maker make a mouse smell more like a mouse?

Another idea/thought is could it be the packaging (Plastic bag) that the frozen rat/mice arrive in that make the food items smell different?

[mike h]

hi
welcome to the world of royals.
I would not worry about the female.
I would be worried about the male, especially if its weight loss is noticeable.
It is a good idea genreally to weigh reptiles so you can keep a proper eye on them so to speak.
Mousemaker worked for me to help swithch my royals from mice to rats.
Also for 6.95 it is worth a go.
Have you moved then to a larger tank or changed anything in the setups?
One thing I tried which really git my royals going was avipro plus in the water. they fed like mad soon afterwards.
If everything is the same as before they went off feed, leave them alone for 1 week no handling etc(just water changes) have some mice rats ready in the evening but before they come out. Put them in hot water(not too hot to pop the bellies but hot) try rat mouse gently near there hides.
I at one point did it in almost darkness with a red bulb.
Dont handle,
try avipro plus
try mousemaker
do in the evening
dont hit there noses
sometimes holding the hot ratr steady for a few mins helps.
I went through most of the above with dofferent royals and a lot of other stuff.they all feed like crazy now.
Basically its trial and error. It could be they are just in a natural fast
Hope they feed soon it can be worrying.
any more Qs dont hesitate
mike
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Check out my albino royal python website!

[reptilefans]

Thanks for the info. No change in surroundings, they have been in the same set the up since they were purchased. Just a worrying time at the moment. In fact the female would feed anywhere, she was not fussy. You could take her out the viv at cleaning time and she would take her feed in the tub she was being kept in. With regards to handling, I try to keep that to a minimum anyway, normally only when they need to be moved for cleaning purposes. I also have a number of Corn, Garter and Milk snakes, all feeding great, but unfortunately not big enough to recycle the Royals rejected feeds.

[slate58]

Gerbils are always worth a try, my 200g female has been off her feeds for a month - tried all sorts to no avail. The other day I got my hands on two gerbils, fresh killed (humanely of course) and she went crazy for it!
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1.0.0 Eublepharis Macularis (albino)
1.1.0 Heterodon Nasicus
1.1.0 Python Regius
0.0.1 Testudo Hermanni Hermanni

[saxon]

Hi,
I just got a royal off my niece that hadn't eaten in 6 months. It still weighs 900grm and is 2.5yrs old. I got it on Saturday and it ate last night. Only a large mouse mind you.
having never had a royal before I'm quite chuffed with myself.
I had to add extra heating and humidity and I smacked the mouse on the head with a hammer after defrosting with a chick.
Sax

[mike h]

cool, brilliant, well done,

will have to make a book one day with the title.

101 ways to make your damn royal feed!


mike
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Check out my albino royal python website!