trying to feed Bradley tonight...

[blueberrypancakes]

The last time I tried was last Monday, so tonight I'm going to try again. He hasn't eaten in at least three weeks. (I've had him for two, and he hasn't eaten for me yet.) I have had all four sides of his tank blacked out and have avoided even looking at him through the top. Ugh, I really hope he takes it...! I want to get it right, so I'm debating between fully lively or stunned. I know he ate live when before I got him, but when I put a live one in his tank last time, he balled up in a corner and looked terrified of it. He at least sniffed at the stunned one before snubbing it. I just don't want to traumatize him and put him off feeding for another three weeks...

[Inknsteel]

Don't stun the rat. First, stunning is an inhumane practice. The snake is fully capable of killing a non-stunned live rat. Second, stunning can do more harm than good because it is unpredictable how long the rat will be effected, and when they come out of being stunned, they tend to be even more aggressive. So, if you stun and your snake doesn't eat the rat, you are now risking your snake being bit by an angry rat and/or yourself being bit trying to remove the angry rat...

[blueberrypancakes]

Yipes, thanks, I won't do that anymore. I started doing it 'cause Jacks got a nasty gash on his neck while killing a live mouse, but now that boy'll eat anything I put in his tank (and he's quick, too...) so he's switched to f/t.

[Annarose15]

Don't stun the rat. First, stunning is an inhumane practice. The snake is fully capable of killing a non-stunned live rat. Second, stunning can do more harm than good because it is unpredictable how long the rat will be effected, and when they come out of being stunned, they tend to be even more aggressive. So, if you stun and your snake doesn't eat the rat, you are now risking your snake being bit by an angry rat and/or yourself being bit trying to remove the angry rat...

x1000

I'm assuming this is a young/hatchling snake that you're working with, so a live rat that's a correct size isn't capable of hurting him anyway - you're just terrorizing the rodent unnecessarily. I would get a live rat pup and just leave it in with him overnight. Once he's eaten a few good times for you, you can start the tough love of switching him to F/T, if that's the preference.

Younger rats are easily the size of adult mice, and much less dangerous, hence why none of mine ever see a mouse if possible.

[blueberrypancakes]

The one I'm trying to feed is a year and a half, he's on small-med adult rats.

[KatStoverReptiles]

x1000

I'm assuming this is a young/hatchling snake that you're working with, so a live rat that's a correct size isn't capable of hurting him anyway - you're just terrorizing the rodent unnecessarily. I would get a live rat pup and just leave it in with him overnight. Once he's eaten a few good times for you, you can start the tough love of switching him to F/T, if that's the preference.

Younger rats are easily the size of adult mice, and much less dangerous, hence why none of mine ever see a mouse if possible.

I would agree with most of this, except the part about leaving live in overnight. I just don't know about that...I have a hard time leaving the room when there's a live prey item in my snakes' tub (although I'm feeing items a bit bigger than pups...), and I'm a bit over protective like that.

I would say maybe dim the lights (so you can still sort've see the rat) and sit very still within eyesight of the tank. If he doesn't take it within an hour or so, I'd consider it a no-go and pull the rat. Unfortunately at that point you either have to (humanely) euthanize the rat and freeze it or feed it to someone else.

Good luck!! Hopefully he takes it!

[KatStoverReptiles]

Oh and I've also had some success with heightened feeding responses if I wait to feed till late at night (10pm-12am).

[Annarose15]

A rat pup is not going to injure a BP. However, in light of Bradley's age, I do agree that an appropriately sized rat is too old to leave overnight.

OP - The terms small and medium seem to have a pretty wide range of definition, depending on who's talking. An adult male BP rarely needs more than a 60-80g rat. My boy is over 1300g and that's all he gets weekly. The 15% "rule" really only applies when they are still young (my 3000g female doesn't get 450g rats).

As Kat said, dim the lights (at least a few minutes before going to feed). He should still be safe left alone for 10 minutes or so, but even if you don't leave the room, stay out of sight so you aren't distracting him by moving in the background. Also, leave his "furniture" alone if you removed it before, so he can feel like he's hunting from secret instead of suddenly exposed and vulnerable.

[blueberrypancakes]

I was going to wait until I went to work at 3am. I would try to feed before leaving. The last time I tried to feed I did so this late and just left the lights off.
Bradley is the new guy, so he's in qt. I have to toss the rat out if he doesn't take it, which makes it just slightly more frustrating when he doesn't.

[Annarose15]

I was going to wait until I went to work at 3am. I would try to feed before leaving. The last time I tried to feed I did so this late and just left the lights off.
Bradley is the new guy, so he's in qt. I have to toss the rat out if he doesn't take it, which makes it just slightly more frustrating when he doesn't.

This is just from my experiences, but I wouldn't wait quite that late. I have the most success for my feedings just after dark (7-10pm). It almost seems like mine are too active exploring to pay attention to prey after midnight. It's very possible that they have just conformed to my schedule, but who knows.

You don't necessarily have to throw the rat out if he doesn't take it, you just have to save it for his next feeding (whether by euthanizing and freezing or feeding dog food for a week).