I'm feeding frozen/thawed. What's up?

[bigben2390]

ok so i tried feeding my BP a f/t hopper mouse today and when I offered it to him, he struck at it but missed. He tried again a few minutes later but still couldn't get it. I could tell he was getting frustrated. Finally he just gave up. This is the second time he's refused a meal because of inaccurate strikes.

My BP is about 20 in. long and probably like 8 months (not 100% on the age cause I got him at a local pet shop and the girl who was working couldn't give me an exact age).

So a couple of questions...Will his strike accuracy eventually improve? And is it alright to refreeze the mouse after a refusal?

[MeMe]

Sometimes when they are not hungry they will strike because it is in their space. They just 'tag' it and pull away. They will often hiss if they get too peeved.

However...

How long have you had your bp?

Have you ever fed it before?

What is your set up like...temps etc?

[BMorrison]

^ Took the words right outta my mouth!

[bigben2390]

Sometimes when they are not hungry they will strike because it is in their space. They just 'tag' it and pull away. They will often hiss if they get too peeved.

However...

How long have you had your bp?

Have you ever fed it before?

What is your set up like...temps etc?

I've had him for about a month now and have fed him successfully 5 out of 7 times. He's refused twice for the same reason...striking, missing, getting frustrated, and giving up. I'm keeping him in a 20 gallon tank with temps at 91 and 83. Humidity fluctuating between 50% and 55%.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

To add to Meme’s post they also do that because of the prey itself, if the prey is not warm enough it will lead to strike and miss!

Also was your BP on F/T before you got him?

If not and you recently got him I would encourage you to get him to eat for you first by feeding live for several weeks (4 to 6) than once he is established you can attempt to switch him to F/T.

If he was already on F/T just disregard the above advice.

[MeMe]

I've had him for about a month now and have fed him successfully 5 out of 7 times. He's refused twice for the same reason...striking, missing, getting frustrated, and giving up. I'm keeping him in a 20 gallon tank with temps at 91 and 83. Humidity fluctuating between 50% and 55%.

Your temps sound pretty good.

Have you been handling him much?

Sometimes you can stress them out by handling the too much and they go off feed.

Are you providing hides?

[MeMe]

To add to Meme’s post they also do that because of the prey itself, if the prey is not warm enough it will lead to strike and miss!

how are you warming his f/t?

[bigben2390]

Your temps sound pretty good.

Have you been handling him much?

Sometimes you can stress them out by handling the too much and they go off feed.

Are you providing hides?

I am guilty of handling my BP quite often. I handled him yesterday for about an hour but left him alone all day today before trying to feed him. I have two hides on opposite sides of the tank. And I am warming the mouse by putting it in a sandwich bag and then submerging it in warm water for about 15 minutes.


EDIT: According to the woman at the pet shop, he was raised on f/t so I'm just keeping him on that but would eventually like to switch to feeding live when he gets a little bigger...

[MeMe]

If you just got him about a month ago you may want to just give him some space. Leave him alone ( ) for about a week and then try again. Also you may wanna give a small blast of air with a hair dryer, to the f/t to warm the temp up just a bit before attempting to feed. The f/t should not be more than slightly warm to the touch...not hot..not cold.



As for waiting till he gets older to switch to live...what is your reason for waiting or for wanting to switch?

just curious.

[bigben2390]

If you just got him about a month ago you may want to just give him some space. Leave him alone ( ) for about a week and then try again. Also you may wanna give a small blast of air with a hair dryer, to the f/t to warm the temp up just a bit before attempting to feed. The f/t should not be more than slightly warm to the touch...not hot..not cold.



As for waiting till he gets older to switch to live...what is your reason for waiting or for wanting to switch?

just curious.

Thanks for the advice. I'll give him a week of rest before trying to feed him again and I'll give that hair dryer technique a shot too.

As for switching to live...I'd like to wait till he gets bigger because the pet shop near my house sells full grown mice and I don't think young Marley would be able to handle such a large rodent quite yet. The reason I'd like to switch to live is to give him some exercise/excitement in order to satisfy his natural instinct to hunt. Not to mention I am a twisted individual and think it would be awesome to watch him hunt.