Allie is such a sweet girl. She exhibits intelligence and is well behaved around us as well as strangers. She's a gentle soul. She knows me and will follow me around the room after she's done exploring. I think it's because she's nosy and wants to know what I'm doing lol
She's 15 months old now and is approaching 7' or so (guestimate as I haven't measured her in some time). She was a slow starter and it took me months to get her to eat rats. But since then she's been growing like a weed. She's never had much of a feed mode and what little she has is gone in less than an hour after eating. She won't hunt for her food. I can throw it in her enclosure and leave her be, but she just kind of ignores it. She won't take it from tongs either, forcing me to hold her rat(s) by their tails and dangle them in the cage. Most times she comes up to it, finds it's head, and takes it out of my hand and starts eating. Rarely does she strike at it, sometimes she will wrap it though.
I've tried feeding her live, but that did not go over well. It wasn't until the rat bit her that she decided to strike at it. The whole time it was in her enclosure she just nosed it. She acted curious, but nothing more. Needless to say, I don't attempt live with her anymore. Jumbo rats have one hell of a bite and my poor girl sported an awful looking bite until she shed.
I'm not fond of feeding her by hand. She's getting bigger and it's just not safe. Of course, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure she eats.
A friend suggested letting her go a longer period before feeding to see if that would induce a better feed response. So this last time I made her wait 3 weeks before feeding....normally she gets fed every 14 days. She was pretty active for about 10 days prior to it. I thought maybe I'd get a better response. She still refused to take it off the tongs. But she did snatch it out of my hand a little and wrap it. So I guess it was better. But she refused her second rat. Sometimes she does that although most often she will take two jumbos (or 3 large).
The friend suggested that her reaction may be due to a genetic flaw, possibly from inbreeding (she was purchased from Bob Clark), or even maybe she was a weak one...an egg that may have never hatched in a natural environment. With breeders slitting eggs to help babies live, instead of letting nature do it's thing, it could be a possibility.
I wonder if it could have been from my slight unorthodox method of getting her to eat when she was being so dead set against rats. And trust me, I tried every method suggested to get her to switch to rats (my bad...I should have never given her a mouse) and none worked. I even tried waiting her out, but she got so thin and her clutch mate was growing like a burm should. I got desperate. The only other thing I found she would take was chicks. (it was funny watching her find the head lol) Since chicks were bigger than the adult mice I could get, I'd feed her a chick and as she was pushing the last of it down, I'd stick a rat head in her mouth. She knew what I was doing and would sometimes pull away. I didn't press the issue. I didn't want to stress her with feeding this way and cause more issues by her possibly associate feeding with stress. I'd try again with the next chick or next feeding. It was the only way I could get her the necessary food she needed to grow and be healthy. Each feeding I would offer her a rat first, but she'd refuse and we'd go through the usual routine of chick in mouth, then rat in mouth. Eventually she did start taking rats on her own after a few months of feeding this way. Every since, she's been growing like a weed. She just doesn't have much of a feed mode.
I guess I'm wondering if eventually she will become more normal during feed time. The last thing I want is a big animal mistake my hand for food. Or could I have possibly done something that's hurt her natural instinct. Or could it be a genetic flaw...or she was an egg that was never to have hatched.
She's a great animal. I love this girl to death! I've put a lot of effort and time into her. I love her the way she is. I'm just curious as to why she is such a passive eater. I'd hate to think it was something I've done. Will she eventually outgrow this stage or is she special...and maybe a one of a kind?
If she is possibly genetically flawed or should have never been born, she couldn't have gone to a better person. I'll continue to do whatever is necessary to keep her healthy.
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