hes not budging AT ALL (mouser)

[FrankieCarbone]

so i have had my male bp for almost 2 years now, and here is deal, when i first got him he guzzled anything i put infront of him, even the occasional rat that was def too big for him, but he has downed them all, until he reached around 800 grams,that was about a year or so ago, after that when saw that he would run away and hide when ever i threw a rat in there, i started with mouses and he would take those, every once in a while atleast. So i started getting fustrated because i could not understand why the sudden change. And it got worse, because he went from no rats at all, to 2 mice at a time, to 1 mouse then ignore the second one. So for the last 7 months or so, he will ONLY eat mice. Here how it goes, hes hiding almost everyday (i know a hiding bp is a happy bp) and the only time i see him is when he is hungry. One day i will just check on her and i will see half his body out of one of his hides just staring outside the tank almost as if saying "hey bro, was up with some food?" i go to the store buy a mouse drop it in, hell take it quickly, and go back to his hide, and see ya, wont see him again until next time he is hungry, which at this point is anywhere from 3-4 weeks.

I tried to be slick once and when he was in his "any food for me" stance outside his hide, id try a small rat, well hell get all excited flick his tongue a bit, realize its a rat, and hes gone. Then he wont come back out for another week, almost as if he saw the rat and did;t want to come out the whole time just incase that rat is still out there. So anyway i did;t try that move until a few weeks later, and this time i did it with a ASF rat, and nothing! this freaking guy is serious! When that happened i thought for sure that there had to be something wrong, but sure enough next feeding time, i dropped the mouse in there and in less than a second he would take it.


I gave up on trying rats, and just gave him what he wanted. But now i see all these youtube vids of BP's and there all nice and plump, and my guy he dosent look like that. I mean hes not loosing weight, because i weight him every month, and he lingers between 970-983, he never would loose like a couple of grams at a time, and he still sheds, atleast 3 times in the past 4-5 months.

Anybody have any suggestions? Oh and as far as hubandry, it dosent get any perfect and spot on then mine. So thats not the issue.

[I-KandyReptiles]

Some bps just decide to eat mice for life.

[Aztec4mia]

I wouldn't worry about it, there's nothing wrong with a mouse eater especially if it's a male as long as he doesn't loose a significant amount of weight and you don't see his ribs. As far as waiting for him to come out of hiding to feed him, have you tried to offer him every week even if he is in his hide? I swear one of my girls loves eating in her hide, she'll poke her head out when I put a rat in and then she'll go back in and wait for it to come to her.

[XoKarma]

I'd try getting a rat around the size of the mice he takes readily, if you have a container you've carried the mice home in or they have been in recently try dropping the rat in to let the scents mingle. He just might get curious about a rat that smells like a mouse.

[FrankieCarbone]

I have tried both those methods. If i put a mouse in there while hes in his hide he wont come out at all, and if the mouse pokes his head in his hide he will just make a barricade with his body around the entrance of the hide.

As far as the scent thing, i go to the same pet store and they have 3 tanks, mice tank, rat tank, and ASF tank. Im
Friendly with the owner and i have gone as far as calling him a few hours before as asking to put a small rat with the
Mice to get all that good scent, and nothing, hell come out, take a wiff and i swear its as if he looks as me and says "nice try" and go back to his hide.

[FrankieCarbone]

ok well i have one last question maybe somebody knows the answer. I know although fustrating, its normal for my BP's eating habits, but here is my question. If he is not loosing weight, and he is still shedding regularly (just went in to check on him today and hes blue). Then why does he have flabby skin? You can't tell when hes laying around, but one you pick him up u can tell flabby skin on his sides, its like those obese fat person who loose alot of weight real quick and still have excess skin. Is this normal? Also when i hold him and his belly is pressed on my arm or something it gets real thin, almost as if there is not much between his spine and belly. Is all this normal? I mean i know im sort of answering my own question with the fact that hes still shedding normally every 2-3 months, and obviously if hes shedding is because hes getting bigger, right? But then why does he LOOK so skinny?? Im confused