Few questions

I have a few questions about my new young BP. I was told he is about a year old, he is about a foot and a half.

I was told he was taking one hopper / week. Does this sound sufficient? I've kept other snakes before and I think he could take a mouse if needed.

My main question is this: When I thaw out his hopper I do it near his cage so he can smell it and prepare himeself for food. When I come near the cage or put the hopper in he gets very excited looking around for it but when he finds it he just sniffs it and sits there looking at it. The only way i can get him to eat it is to move the hopper around (with thongs) in front of his face and gently bop him on the nose with it. Is this normal? Perhaps he was fed live before but I have no way of knowing.

Thanks

That sounds about right. The prey should be as thick as the snake is at his widest point.

And my guess would be that that was the case. Some that feed on F/T need the rat/mouse to move a little to get their attention. If that's working, I'd just keep doing that.