It's been a long time since I've posted here! The inevitable has happened... my BP Noodle has stopped eating regularly. I almost thought I might be able to get away without this happening since he never missed more than a single meal in a row (and this only happened maybe 1-2 times per year) before this and he is 5 years old.
As some background, there has been quite a bit of change for him recently - he moved homes twice over the past few months and there has also been a lot happening like members of our family going away on vacation multiple times over the summer and the house sometimes being more lively and sometimes more empty with someone he isn't familiar with taking care of him.
For the first time ever, he did not eat for 3 meals consecutively this year. I managed to get him to eat once after that (used the hairdryer trick but had to leave the rat in the enclosure overnight for him to eat it) but he just refused again.
Some changes I've noticed are:
- Starting around a year ago when I moved to live in a different place and my family was taking care of him, he stopped striking rats and had to be left alone to eat. I know you aren't supposed to do this, but for the first 4 years I had him, I would always watch him eat, and he never minded - in fact he would sometimes be looking at me to ask for seconds while still swallowing the rat.
- He is now much more timid and scared when eating - any fast movement will scare him back into hiding and he will never eat in front of anyone now.
- He always acts interested when we are thawing a rat - head out in an S-shape, tongue-flicking, head tracking any movement of our hands, but refuses to strike and then doesn't eat the rat.
Current set-up:
He is in the enclosure he was in as a baby (a 38" x 19" x 13" Sterilite tub) with a CHE over wire mesh on the lid and a UTH.
Ambient temperature: 27C (80.6F) - measured with digital thermometer
UTH temperature: 32C (89.6F) - measured with temperature gun
Humidity: 60%
He has not been handled since he started refusing rats.
What can I do to get him eating normally again and are there any good tricks to make rats more enticing?
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