Enclosure too large?? not feeding

[teebyrd393]

Hi all! I have an feb 07 ball 1.0 Jade.
As of recent, he had been housed in a 15 qt tub, 2 hides, water dish, aspen substrate, UTH with thermostat, and digital hydro/thermometer....always had a healthy appetite, eating a rat pup once a week. A month and a half ago I moved him to a 20g long display tank set up (I thought, maybe incorrectly, that he needed more room)
Temps and Humidity are good in the tank(75 cool, 93 warm, 54% humidity). I did not touch him for one week after putting him in his new enclosure. The back of the tank is covered so he doesn't feel exposed.
He has only eaten once in this enclosure. Could it be too big for him and he feels unsafe? I know they do not need a ton of room, but he's the length of the tank when he's flat on the substrate and weighs 400g.
No other visible health issues, clear eyes, good looking skin, no respiratory issues....I know they can go awhile with out feeding, but he's a growing boy and I want to give him the best care possible.
(I can't figure out how to post a pic directly on this message, but I did add a pic of his set up with him in it to the gallery under T for teebyrd393 called tank set up)
Please Help! Thanks!

[DutchHerp]

That setup looks quite perfect to me actually...

I'd just wait and see. Sometimes they just go off feed for a while. If he doesn't eat within a month or two, I'd get him back in a tub. You could try to use his old tub for feeding?

[JMartin]

I agree with Dutch.... Everything seems to be good. Maybe he's just went off of feed for some reason.

[JeffJ]

yah they just refuse to eat some times. my BP skipped this week.
no worries

[littleindiangirl]

If you think he feels exposed, then you may be right. Fill up his enclosure with rolled up newspaper balls, and every week remove a couple, until they are all gone.

If that doesn't do the trick right away, just remain consistent with how you feed, try covering the two sides of the enclosure, and be patient. He will eat!

[teebyrd393]

Thank you so much for your responses.

I have never fed him in a seperate enclosure. From what I've noticed he likes to ambush the prey from his hide...waits until it walks by and then strikes. I guess I could put him in the old tub with his old hide...let him enter it and then introduce the rat pup.

He is behaviorally normal, very active at night time and under his warm hide during the day. It's just the feeding that has stopped. He seems to be interested during prescenting, but when the prey is introduced he "runs from it". I am confident that the rat pup is appropriately sized for him, they are never bigger than his biggest point around his body, and he has regularly eaten them before.

Does 400g seem normal for a 2 yr old male? His body seems slender compared to females that I've seen, but that is attributed to the sex correct? I just want to make sure that he is "average" for his age.

[littleindiangirl]

400 grams for a two year old male is fairly small, although yes, males do stay leaner than females. For instance, our 400 gram males were hatched in July, so around 9 months old.

[mikedahitman87]

My two year old male is 1500 grams. I wouldn't worry too much about the weight. I have seen "proven breeder" males a few years old only 600-700 grams.

I have heard some breeders like to keep their males small. They are supposedly less lethargic during breeding season. Don't know if this is true though.

[teebyrd393]

I feed rat pups every 5 days....He has been off food though, I'll weigh him tonight and repost. Thanks for the info...I thought he was small

[teebyrd393]

I'm a ditz. He's an 08 I've only had him a year..not two. It seems like he's been in th efamily for ever.....So let me rephrase, 400g male at 1 yr old. Sorry!