Bitten BP scared of food.

[pmbassist]

I have a mature BP who I got as a rescue. The owner had him on gerbils . When I got him, the tip of his tail was gone (it's actually a cute stub) and he has a few other scars. Now when I try to feed him he's SCARED of his dinner!

His enviroment is perfect, i've done my research. I've had him for 8 months and he's eaten 5 times I belive.

The latest thing i've tried is dangling a live gerbil in front of him and he licked it twice and scooted back into his den. It's comin up on a month since he's eaten. I'm not sure what to do. I'll try dangling the gerbil again if he comes out tonight.

I'm considering breeding feeders as I have two BP's now. Both are rescues and my other guy is young, about 2 feet and eats / sheds / poops like clockwork. Is it worth it to try getting my full grown guy on rats? Should I try pre-killing?

[pmbassist]

Sorry mods, I realized this should go in husbandry.

[adizziedoll]

I am going sort of the same issue as yourself - my poor boy is afraid to eat now, or maybe just cant b/c he did get bit in the face. Im not sure how to get him back on feed now, so im particularly interested in any response from this question.

[bigballs]

i have a female bp who was afraid to feed at first. she would strike the f/t mouse but would never coil. i tried f/t for four weeks from her first feeding with me and she was never interested. the fifth feeding i threw in a live rat pup and she ate it with no problems.


maybe you could try live rats at first to get your bps feeding response back up and then switch her to f/t rats after she has fed for you a few times.

[pmbassist]

Problem is my guy is scared of live gerbils and rats! I was thinking maybe pre-killed he might not have a problem with but it looks like this can go both ways.

[Sausage]

Go ahead and try a f/t or pk.

[bigballs]

have you tried live rats? how often does he eat gerbils? im thinking that maybe if you get off gerbils altogether and switch to mice or rats then his feeding response may return.

[pmbassist]

K, i'll try a PK rat. I've given him a live rat before but she may have been too big for him or he might not have been ready. The rat turned into an awesome pet. I really love rats unfortunately . Part of owning snakes I guess.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.

Love the rawr icon