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Another "my bp is not eating" thread
Hi, since beginning October I have a very sweet male bp, who is thought to be about 8-10 months old and weighs 260 gram. Up until January he ate very well and if he d8d refuse his food he always did so with a good reason (shed, temperature not right, etc.)
But since January 9 he hasn't eaten anymore, he simply refuses to. I will thaw the mouse and he already starts getting excited - comes partly out of his hide and goes into his "hunting stance" as I call it. Then I'll give him the mouse and move it slightly in front of him, and he'll usually stare at it for about ten minutes, he will touch it with his little head, lick it, but he won't strike. So then I place the mouse in front of his hide and go to sleep, leaving it there overnight.
And I swear, the little :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: will play with it ALL NIGHT, he will poke it, rest his head on top of it, stare at it for HOURS, but he refuses to eat it.
He hasn't lost weight yet, but I personally think he is a little on the skinny side, so if he does start to lose weight it won't be good!
Now some information about the terrarium he's in:
He's in a 50 gallon terrarium,
The sides and the back are completely covered,
It's filled with stuff so he can cross from the warm to the cold side without being seen,
He has a 100 watt che + a heat mat on his warm side
I have two DIGITAL thermometers
I have a thermostat
I also have a tempgun,
He can't reach the heat mat, it's underneath the terrarium, and in the terrarium I have newspaper covered with 2 cm of bedding.
The humidity is usually around 50%
Last time he shed was 1.5 month ago,
He spends 95% of the time inside his hides, only at night he'll move his head out, his neck in S shape and stare in front of him (he used to do this too when he did eat, and would do it usually the day before feeding day, because he was hungry).
His two hides are identical and not too small, nor too big
I check the temperature with my tempgun regularly, because imo it's more accurate than my thermometers
Cold side during the day= 80
Cold side during the night (it's winter and my room temperature drops very quickly as it's been freezing the past 3 weeks)= 75/78
Hot side: 89
Hot side in his hide: 90
Hot side a little under his substrate: 92
He's in my room so the only person that can "bother" him is me, but I go to school and work, so this shouldn't be an issue.
When I give the food I first thaw it in warm (not hot) water for a while until the mouse isn't frozen. I do this in a plastic bag because I don't want the mouse to get wet.
Then I use a hair dryer to scent the room
This technique worked really well until 2 months back..
Do you guys have any idea of what could be wrong with him? I think he's too young to fast for breeding season.. do you guys think feeding live might work?
I honestly don't like the idea of feeding live - because what am I supposed to do with the mouse if Luciano doesn't eat it???
And most importantly: does this influence his health? How long can he fast till it becomes dangerous? Or is there another reason why he won't eat?
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It would be helpful to know the current weight of the snake and the weight of the food item offered. If the mouse is too big or too small that may be an issue. Personally I'd try a live rat crawler, but you would have to know a local breeder and would have to return the crawler if your snake didn't eat it since it won't survive without it's mom. I'd target the prey item weight to be about 10% of the weight of the snake. You may try live for one or two feedings and go back to frozen thawed just to get some food in him. With that kind of a response I can almost guarantee he will take live right away.
Last edited by cchardwick; 03-05-2018 at 10:05 AM.
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Registered User
Re: Another "my bp is not eating" thread
 Originally Posted by cchardwick
It would be helpful to know the current weight of the snake and the weight of the food item offered. If the mouse is too big or too small that may be an issue. Personally I'd try a live rat crawler, but you would have to know a local breeder and would have to return the crawler if your snake didn't eat it since it won't survive without it's mom. I'd target the prey item weight to be about 10% of the weight of the snake. You may try live for one or two feedings and go back to frozen thawed just to get some food in him. With that kind of a response I can almost guarantee he will take live right away.
My snake weighs 260 gram and I feed him mouse are between 20 to 30 gram, though usually around 22/23, so that should be okay.
I will try to get a live mouse/rat
Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A520F met Tapatalk
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I let my mouse thaw in a bag on the counter. I then throw it into a container of the hottest water out of the tap still in the bag for 10 min. If they refuse at first stick the head in the water for a minute and dab excess water off and re offer. Most times that works like a charm.
~Sunny~
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The Following User Says Thank You to Sunnieskys For This Useful Post:
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Re: Another "my bp is not eating" thread
As above or heat with a hairdryer . Main thing is it HAS to be WARM !!
I dangle the warm mouse in front of their hide entrance and they strike from their hides ...
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Registered User
Re: Another "my bp is not eating" thread
 Originally Posted by Sunnieskys
I let my mouse thaw in a bag on the counter. I then throw it into a container of the hottest water out of the tap still in the bag for 10 min. If they refuse at first stick the head in the water for a minute and dab excess water off and re offer. Most times that works like a charm.
Thank you!! I will definitely try that last thing, it's difficult to get the mouse warm, even with my hair dryer, it seems as if the heat just goes away after a minute. I hope this will work - I am probably gonna try and feed him tonight
Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A520F met Tapatalk
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Re: Another "my bp is not eating" thread
A couple of things that came to mind when reading this thread (because I have a picky eater as well).
You mention about making sure the mouse doesn't get wet. I double bag mine as well but one time the mouse still got a little wet. When I heated him up w/ the hair dryer, I could for the 1st time smell the mouse which REALLY excited my BP. I've never seen him so excited. So not sure if that would help or if it's frowned upon by more experienced owners.
Another thing I try to do is offer late at night w/ using as little light as possible. Once he decides he's not going to strike, I drop the F/T in front of his hide and I leave the room until the next morning. I know that might be hard for you since it's in your bedroom but maybe try to control the lighting and interaction as much as possible.
Good luck!!
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Re: Another "my bp is not eating" thread
 Originally Posted by Miss_lestrange
Thank you!! I will definitely try that last thing, it's difficult to get the mouse warm, even with my hair dryer, it seems as if the heat just goes away after a minute. I hope this will work - I am probably gonna try and feed him tonight
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That's the secret !
You have to have everything planned then heat with hairdryer then offer INSTANTLY , then keep repeating the warming , instant offering and so on until it grabs it . It can take 7 or 8 goes .
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Re: Another "my bp is not eating" thread
 Originally Posted by Zincubus
That's the secret !
You have to have everything planned then heat with hairdryer then offer INSTANTLY , then keep repeating the warming , instant offering and so on until it grabs it . It can take 7 or 8 goes .
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
7 or 8 goes really? I always give up after 3-4 thinking it's a lost cause. Maybe I need to be more patient
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Re: Another "my bp is not eating" thread
He doesn't have to be breeding size to fast. My mail fasted the first season at 200 grams for 10 weeks, then ate a rat then fasted 3 more weeks and was fine all summer.
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Name: Christian
0.1 Albino Ball (Sophie)
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1.0 Hypo Burmese (Giacomo/AKA Jock)
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