2nd Feeding F/T - Is this the Norm?

[ckuhn003]

I felt a sense of tension lifted during my 1st week of owning my new BP when he consumed a medium F/T mouse. After watching hours and hours of youtube videos and bracing myself for a ravage attack on the prey, the 'actual results' were a little different then I anticipated. I went through the whole process (thaw at room temp, heat w/ hair dryer, dance the mouse in front of his hide, etc). Nothing worked so I ended up removing the hide to get to my BP which put him in a submissive 'ball' position. I felt a little defeated so I left the room and debated 'how I was going to discard a dead mouse?'. Throw away in the trash Can? Toss in the field behind the house?? Etc..... I came back downstairs and to my enjoyment, I saw the tail sticking out of his mouth.....WIN!!!!

Fast forward a week later (last night).....2nd attempt at feeding. Went through the whole preparation process and to my amazement he was already out of his hide. Wow..this was one of the 1st times I've seen him since I got him. Was he hungry and/or just now feeling comfortable w/ his new home? In my head, I was rather confident thinking this might be the 'ravaging moment' that I've seen on countless BP eating videos. So I presented the mouse to him..... Nothing. Danced the mouse in front of him...... Nothing. So I propped the mouse up near the water dish and just stood back and watched. He had a curious look on his face as I watched in anticipation. Well 5 minutes later and he slithered past the mouse and back in his hide. Feeling a little defeated again......I heated the mouse and placed him by the entrance of the hide. I left and came back 30-45 minutes later and the mouse was still there. By that time, I was tired and decided to go to bed. I checked this morning and the mouse was GONE . YES!!!!!! So I'm assuming he may be just one of those that likes to eat in private...or maybe I was just a little overly aggressive w/ my preparation technique (i.e. bopping him in the head w/ the mouse to get his attention).

Anyone else have BPs that eat this way? Or is this still a result of a BP that's not totally acclimated yet.

[dylan815]

this isn't too uncommon. The first time he might of just not been used to his new enclosure. I have a big boa that wont eat or wont hit a jumbo rat unless you just leave it in there for her and leave the room or cover her enclosure and be really really quiet. I would guess you BP is just going to be one of thoes shy feeders. Nothing really to worry about. He might get more courageous as he gets better settled in but only time will tell for sure. congrats on the feeding though!!!! (my boa took almost 2 months before he would feed after i got him).

[OneEyedFox]

Has he always eaten f/t or was he eating live when he first hatched. When I switched Calliope from live to f/t I had these experiences but you should never 'boop' him on the head with the mouse. They are skittish animals so that's more likely to make him curl up into a ball and get nervous than it is to pique his interest. It could be that he's in a new home, or that he is just now switching to f/t, either way, as time progresses he'll get better at taking his food. Most BPs will prefer to be left alone to eat, if they're switching from live, "dancing" the mouse around could help but each snake is different.

My advice- don't worry about it. It'll get easier and become more natural to him as time progresses, and don't 'boop' him with it, it's likely to make him nervous, and turn him away from the food.


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[ckuhn003]

Has he always eaten f/t or was he eating live when he first hatched. When I switched Calliope from live to f/t I had these experiences but you should never 'boop' him on the head with the mouse. They are skittish animals so that's more likely to make him curl up into a ball and get nervous than it is to pique his interest. It could be that he's in a new home, or that he is just now switching to f/t, either way, as time progresses he'll get better at taking his food. Most BPs will prefer to be left alone to eat, if they're switching from live, "dancing" the mouse around could help but each snake is different.

My advice- don't worry about it. It'll get easier and become more natural to him as time progresses, and don't 'boop' him with it, it's likely to make him nervous, and turn him away from the food.


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I was told he was a good eater and raised on f/t. The bopping was just due to my ignorance and 1st time feeding a snake. I'm just glad I've had two consecutive weeks of feeding. Looking forward to a 3rd where I can start holding him

[omglolchrisss]

The first time I tried to feed mine was like 3 weeks ago when I first bought him/her it wasn't successful but the next time I did it was successful I find with mine I just slightly move the mouse and he/she goes for it the puppet show doesn't work for me also as for booping on the head at least you didn't drop it on your snakes head like I did the first time trying to feed! LOL he/she did NOT like that

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[ckuhn003]

The first time I tried to feed mine was like 3 weeks ago when I first bought him/her it wasn't successful but the next time I did it was successful I find with mine I just slightly move the mouse and he/she goes for it the puppet show doesn't work for me also as for booping on the head at least you didn't drop it on your snakes head like I did the first time trying to feed! LOL he/she did NOT like that

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Oh I might of done that too but failed to mention it...haha

If I remember correctly, he proceeded to retreat into the water dish making it look like he was taking a bath.

[omglolchrisss]

Oh I might of done that too but failed to mention it...haha

If I remember correctly, he proceeded to retreat into the water dish making it look like he was taking a bath.

Awww LOL that's too funny!!

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[tttaylorrr]

Anyone else have BPs that eat this way? Or is this still a result of a BP that's not totally acclimated yet.

Yellow was a very difficult feeder from the get-go. for the past year and a half or so he would never strike at the prey; i had to leave the prey item right at the entrance of his hide, turn off the lights and be totally out of sight. i had to do this for a YEAR AND A HALF! a month ago he broke this cycle and actually struck at the prey item. he's struck two other times since then, but his most recent feeding he wanted me to leave it and walk away.

all snakes are different. i'd say your situation sounds like he's just not 100% comfortable yet. he'll get there.

[Starscream]

Maze has eaten for me a total of eight times now, but she really freaked me out the second time I tried. The first time, she'd been windshield wiping for days because of how hungry she was (she hadn't eaten in over a week due to being shipped two days before she would have normally been fed), but she hadn't been there for an entire week yet so I tried to Stay Strong....... gave in after 5 days of having her and she nailed it with only a little hesitation (And maybe an accidental boop to her nose. She still ate it so I wasn't really complaining).

Second time I tried to feed, she seemed absolutely terrified -- turns out she was in blue so she couldn't even see it properly. Tried the nose boop again because well, it worked last time. She struck at it defensively but never actually latched on, and shortly thereafter I realized -- in shed. I felt so dumb lol.

I feel super lucky because she's one that takes it right out of the tongs, just a little curious sniffing and then if it isn't in her mouth it must be a crime. Ironically, she puts her nose right up against the rat's nose without any prompting before she takes it. She's a dork.

On-topic, it could just be that your guy doesn't like eating when someone's in the room with him. I think I remember seeing a forum member saying something about how their snake wouldn't seem interested in touching a prey item until they'd left the room. But, I hope not -- it's a lot of fun to watch them eat and all the silly faces they make as they try to get the prey item down.

EDIT: and tttaylorrr beat me to it. i'm bad with names and couldn't remember who it was lol.