Feeding Problem? Not exactly.

I have eight '05 hatchlings (and three more on the way), and all are feeding well. But my Blizzard female won't accept f/t anymore. Her first meal was live, the next seven were f/t, then she went into shed. After shedding, she would no longer accept f/t, but pounced on live pinks savagely. (Her male counterpart did the same thing, but returned to f/t after a live kick-start pink.) Obtaining live pinks isn't a problem, but at $2.60 a pop, I'd prefer that she return to 17 cent frozen. I'm not worried- in fact, I anticipate that she will grow out of it. I haven't even tried easy things like braining. I'll oblige her whims for now, but...

I'm just curious to hear similar stories and how they turned out. I've raised a decent number of hatchlings in the past, but before this year I almost always fed live prey. So this kind of "problem" is new to me.

I placed a washed, rinsed, f/t pink just outside her hide at sunset last night. I made sure not to touch the pink bare-handed. She was very active, so I figured she was hungry. This morning I awoke to a purplish-grey pink, and she was still cruising. So I went to the pet store, got two live pinks (they were a little on the small side) at almost $6.00, and threw them in to her. She downed them both within three minutes. I really hope she grows out of this soon, because fuzzies are not consistently available and she'll be ready to move up in a couple of months (and her feeding costs almost equal that of the rest of the collection combined).

Three recommendations:
1. The temperature of the f/t may be a problem. I have a blizzard female adult that will get picky once in a while, and most times a little extra warmth to the mouse triggers it.

2. Try putting in a prekilled live pinky. It may be the strength of the aroma.

3. Try putting in a live pinky AND a f/t pinky and see if she takes both.

D80

Drizzt80 said:

Three recommendations:
1. The temperature of the f/t may be a problem. I have a blizzard female adult that will get picky once in a while, and most times a little extra warmth to the mouse triggers it.

2. Try putting in a prekilled live pinky. It may be the strength of the aroma.

3. Try putting in a live pinky AND a f/t pinky and see if she takes both.

D80

Click to expand...

Thanks! Those are excellent suggestions. When I first give her the f/t, it's right out of the cup of very hot water, so I don't think it's the temp. But I'm guessing that she'll respond to recommendation #2. As for #3, I'll bet that once her feeding response has been stimulated by the live pink, she'll take them both.

Thanks again. I'll update this thread after her next feeding.

Your welcome. As for recommendation #3, I have 3 hatchlings that eat live siberian dwarf hamster pinks. I have been putting in a f/t pinky with the live pink and 2 of the 3 are eating both meals . . . I'm hoping they'll eventually take just the f/t!

D80

My nephew has a 6 month old BP with the same problem, (munches live in seconds, but leaves f/t untouched) I am going to reccommend to him what Driizzt said to see if we can get him switched to f/t.