Advice on maintaining focus....

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kwaka

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Hi All,

Elliott is a 6 month old Stimmy, was feeding like a champion on fuzzies in his little cubby (Sistema), upsized him to a larger one, took two more fuzzies then stopped. Last feed was 2 May. After many aborted attempts at feeding him, I have put him back in his little cubby on the 23/5, temps 37 directly on the plastic, 32 on top of the two sheets of kitchen paper, 28 at the cool end. He has a toilet roll to hide in, and spends most days in between the two sheets of kitchen paper, his doona!! Temp wise, I think he is able to find the sweet spot for him.

It might still be a little early for him to be settled back in, and I am not concerned about lack of feeding, he is healthy looking, but my question is mainly around getting him to focus on his food. How do I keep him in his cubby while trying to feed him? I put the prey item in on the end of tongs, with the lid still on, so there is only a teeny tiny gap. He climbs up the tongs and gets out the gap. I then have to get him back in the cubby, and try again, but he is only interested in trying to find a way out.

Pretty sure I am doing everything else right, is it just that he is off his food for winter, so any gaps in the lid are just an exploring opportunity? He doesn't seem stressed, although the more times I have to move him back into the cubby, the faster his movements get, so I generally stop at that point, as I equate that to stress.

Others have spent an hour or more trying to feed - what happens in that timeframe? You just keep putting him back in and keep trying? Or just chase him around his cubby for an hour? At what point does it become more stressful on him to continue?

In short, how do I try to get his focus on feeding and not exploring?
 
He is probably too busy focusing on the big animal jabbing something in his face to care about the food. Just put the prey item in, close the lid and walk away.
 
I tried that on several occasions as well....he just ignored it overnight. He has no qualms about coming up the tongs and wandering over my hand, so I don't think he is scared of me!
 
Antaresia species are renown for stopping feeding over winter, even though heating is maintained. Usually you can get individuals under a year of age to continue feeding but there are some that will simply refuse to feed during the winter. Your best option with these is to turn down the daytime heating and let them brumate. This way they will use minimal resources to see them through them through the winter and will be ready to ready to get stuck into spring time feeding come mid-September or there abouts.

Blue
 
I double checked his temps last night, only 31 at the warm end - must have had the cubby on the wrong spot on the paver. Difficult to get it warm enough at the warm end, but keep the water dish off the end to keep the condensation down....

Have removed one sheet of paper last night so that when he is moving around, he is closer to the warmth; checked this morning, still only 31, and there was condensation over the water dish!! Moved it to a warmer spot and took one of the cork feet off so one corner of the cubby is in direct contact, but still have half the water dish off the side....

Damn this is tough getting the right conditions in such a small space.
 
Having one edge in contact with the paver works, 35 at the warm end, 26 down the cool end, and only a thin mist of condensation in the corner directly above his water. Until he can be comfy in a larger click clack, I think this is the best compromise between heat and dryness......will try feeding him on Saturday night - 5 days with the warmer temps, and see how he goes.
 
I have a yearling stimi that was a fussy feeder and hasn't eaten for 2 months and is on the small size.... Still healthy looking but I've got used to my ants going off food in cooler months... I'm pretty sure she will kick back in around sept.... Just hoping she got over last yrs fussyness or I'm guna have to keep tricking her lol
 
Check the temps first thing in the morning, or better yet use a min/max thermometer probe and see how low the temps are getting overnight as I find this is often the reason for them going off there food.
 
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