BP not eating, a few questions.

[LindsayB]

I have a 3 year old female BP that usually eats really good. I bought her a few months ago and they were feeding her fresh killed small rats every week. She's usually a really good eater and wastes no time with her food. I bought a freshly killed rat on friday and she would not eat it. She acted like she was scared of it. I tried for about 20 minutes then stuck it in the freezer...I thawed the rat out today and she still will not eat it. Shes very active moving all around the tank like shes hungry though. Any suggestions on what to do next? Should I wait a week and buy a live rat instead? Also, nothing has changed in her cage, temp is great and shes not in shed.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Offering too often will reduce the chances of a successful feeding. I would wait a week, then try again. BP's can go more than a year without food. a few weeks is nothing to them.

[LindsayB]

Thanks for the info! Should I go with live next time or keep trying fresh? I'd hate to feed live though...I had 2 pet rats as a teen.

[The Serpent Merchant]

I would give pre-killed another shot. If your snake refuses food more than 3-4 times trying live you be a good idea, but you don't want to risk converting a snake that is eating pre-killed to live only after 1-2 failed feeding attempts.