So I got a hatchling female pied about two weeks ago. The breeder I got her from was feeding her hopper mice, and I waited a week and tried to feed her a thawed fuzzy rat, which she just attacked, but wouldnt take. Two days later, I tried a live fuzzy rat, and she did the same, even when I cut the nose a little for some blood to flow. I ended up feeding it to my male pastel banana clown the same day I picked him up. Tonight I went with what the breeder was feeding her, and she took it. When I weighted her when I first got her 2 weeks ago, she was 100g. The hopper was only 7g, should I stick with live hopper a few more times before moving to a heavier prey? Or should I try a small adult mouse at the next feeding? Also, I have her in a 36x18x18 enclosure, and the only thing I did between the first attempted feeding and tonight was cover the front of the enclosure with a towel since I noticed she would be stressed seeing me moving around at night.
You could try to get hopper scent on a F/T prey item to see if she’ll take it. I unfortunately do not own any snakes though but I’ve heard of snake owners scenting prey items to get their snakes to take it
Upon arrival it’s always recommended to offer the same type prey than offered previously for at least 3 to 5 meals before attempting to switch.
A well settled animal that eats for you will be easier to switched, and switching one step at the time will help the transition as well, from live mice to f/t mice and that f/t mice to f/t rats or live mice to live rats and live rats to f/t rats.
In addition the more often you will offer after a refusal the more y ou will stress the anjmal leading to more refusa, give a week between each feeding attempt.
Finally if all that does not work you will have to look into some husbandry changes.
I’m sure I will get some criticism about giving a hatchling a large enclosure. I have a hide on the hot side, cold side, and a humid hide even though I live in Florida and the humidity in my place is 49 to 60. I have a reader in my living room to let me know the humidity well before I decided to get back into owning reptiles. I also added plenty of fake silk vines to add for more hiding options. I was hoping to try and go straight from live hopper mice to thaw rat fuzzies, but she is picky. The male BP I got was on thawed mice, and took to rat the same day I got him. The breeder said I could go to small adult mice, but I tried to rush to fuzzy rats. I’m just trying to be more on the cautious side now, because I do want to give her more feedings before changing things up. But I also want to up the size of food options to help her grow.
Also, I have been doing a lot of research. I was wondering if I should stick to a 5 day schedule until they are 1 year old, or should I switch to once a week feeding at a certain age. The breeder didnt really specify.
There is no need for a 5 day schedule they do fine on a 7 days schedule, even than it’s more food than they really need.
7 days schedule allows you to get a strong routine and have your animal knows when to it.