Starting to lose weight, can't get to eat NEED HELP!
 

I can't get the two het albino females I have to eat. I got them in a little over a month ago and only one of them has eaten ONCE...They are starting to lose a little weight and I'm getting a little worried. I know they have to be healthy bcuz they are 09 females that were over 500 each when I got them, so they had to have been feeding aggressively. I've tried both mice and rats. The rats are around hopper/small rat size...I've tried night feeding, feeding in smaller tubs, live, pre-killed. I offer once a week, sometimes more, and they just don't seem interested. They were kept in 6 qt tubs with the guy I bought them from, who is a well known breeder. Mine, however, are 32 qt tubs...I don't have the means to keep them in smaller tubs really. I have one 6 qt that i use to try and feed them. That worked once for one of them. Since then I've had no luck. I've also tried feeding different colored prey...WILL ANYONE WITH TIPS PLEASE HELP OUT?! I know it isn't something to worry too much about, but they are losing some weight and I want to breed them not this season but next.

Besides tub size did you ask the guy that sold them to you how they were kept? i.e substrate, hides, temps and even humidity. Sometimes a very small change in the environment can trigger their appetite. Good luck

use cypress mulch and make tub smaller by using hydes you can crumple up newspaper put that in there to taks up space has worked for me in the past. good luck

ya I asked all of that and spoke to him about everything...I'm trying to add hides to tubs for them to make them seem smaller, other than that everything is basically the same, what they're offered, temps.

try softfurred rats never hed one refuse even the most finicky of feeders

A month without feeding isn't going to hurt a 500g BP. I've had much smaller ones go for much longer. Relax, leave them alone...they don't really care what your breeding plans are - how often are you trying to feed them?
Don't put them in a different tub to feed them.

Did you find out what they were eating before? ASFs are a good option, but there's no guarantee (I've kept several that wouldn't touch them, even live). Gerbils are another good choice...BUT, with both, you run the risk of them deciding they don't want other prey items. That's not a problem if you've got a reliable source, or are going to breed your own; but it sucks, otherwise.