BP Feeding Problems Help Please

[Apollo'sDad]

my bp has really been acting funny for the past month or so. He has been eating rats since I have had him which has been since October. Small and then medium size rats of all colors. For the last month when i introduce the rat he strikes it a couple of times until the rat sits on the opposite side of the tank in fear and appollo just watches him. i have been giving him mice which he destroys immediately for the past couple of feedings and today I tried a small rat and the same thing happened, he strikes it and then they just go to opposite sides of the tank. Does he not like rats anymore? Is it possible for a BP to live there life on mice even when they get large? what am I suppose to do? He is a nice size BP already and i have been feeding him 2 to 3 mice a week but I would like him to have a bigger meal like he use to. so whats the deal? Help Please

[nevohraalnavnoj]

hmmm...I wonder if he got the taste of mice in his mouth and now won't touch rats? I have a male spider BP that will only eat mice, but every now and then I can trick him to hit a rat...but after he does he acts like its' the worst thing he's ever eaten. Maybe:

1) Let him go a week without eating
2) Rub a rat with lots of mouse-flavoring (aka rub a nice mouse all over your rat...and by nice...well, I guess any mouse will do) and see if he'll eat the rat.

I believe a male BP can go his whole life just on adult mice, so if he doesn't switch back it should be no problem.

JonV

[Gloryhound]

Our big girl, Osiris, did the strike push away thing for a two or three weeks. We just kept trying her with the rat every week and eventually she took it. We didn't try to switch to mice or anything like that. If they strike twice and don't grab it then we pull it out! The other thing was she was starting to shed when it all started and when she finally took the rat she had just finished shedding that morning. So it could have something to do with shedding that causes that type of reaction!

[kurgan]

How much does one of these rats weigh? A medium size rat that I buy from my suppliers would be an absolutely massive meal for all but the very largest BPs. My adult male (1.5kg) can sink a small rat but I ultimately found him to feed more consistently on the smaller 'weaner' rats. This size rat seems to be labelled as 'small' in some pet shops. The rule of thumb should be a prey item about as large around as your BPs biggest girth.

[J.Bissell]

Even if you can't get your BP switched I don't think it's a big deal. IMO it's better to have them on rats, just one big meal, less work for their meal. I just got a Female normal, she was fed 4-5 mice every two weeks in one sitting by the previous owner. She's 11 or so, so she's survived just fine on mice. She had to work a little more for her food, but when I got her she was very healthy, a little fatty. So if you're worried about the health of your BP, I wouldn't worry too much. That being said... I just switched her over to rats, and she took a small rat no problem.

J. Bissell