feeding stress?

[ryguy3]

hey im a fairly new bp owner, ive had my guy for a little over a year now which makes him about a year and a half old. hes a pretty picky eater at times and has put his share of fasts up but hasnt gone longer than a few weeks without eating. i feed him live mice and went to feed him last night, the mouse was in the tank for about 5-10 min and he showed no interest. so i figured id try again today but the mouse got freaked out and ran around the tank for a couple min. before i got it out. since lastnight my bp hasnt been in his hide/on his heat pad area and is just laying against the tank pretty much folded in half and hasnt moved since. my question is should i try feeding him again or is this a sign of stress?

[JodanOrNoDan]

More information about his environment is required to determine if he is stressed however you should wait a week before you try to feed again. On another note a mouse is usually too small for a year and a half year old unless he is small for his age. Once he gets eating again I would look at trying to switch him to frozen/thawed rats which come in more appropriate sizes and end up being cheaper in the long run.

[ryguy3]

More information about his environment is required to determine if he is stressed however you should wait a week before you try to feed again. On another note a mouse is usually too small for a year and a half year old unless he is small for his age. Once he gets eating again I would look at trying to switch him to frozen/thawed rats which come in more appropriate sizes and end up being cheaper in the long run.

thanks for the input. I ended up bringing the mouse back to the store and he did end up going into his hide later on that day. hes in a 55 gallon tank with heating pad under one side which has his log hide. day temp ranges from 88-92 night cycle is about 84-87 and i keep the humididty around 50-60. i have a couple pieces of driftwood for him to climb around and some fake leaves hanging and he likes to go under his water bowl on the cool side at times, i had i hide on the cool sode as well but he seemed to prefer under the water bowl. i also use a mix of aspen and cypress mulch for hos bedding. I'll try the ftozen rats for sure next time.