new owner

Hello everybody my name is james and i just bought my first snake! so naturally i have decided to study as much as possible and let me just say that this site is awsome and seems to be lots of smart people here to learn from my question is this i have had my baby for 6 days now i bought him from the pet store and they gave me a feeding chart and according to that they had only fed him once and it said to feed him again only two days after i bought him. Well after i got him in his new home i let him settle and decided not to try to feed him that quickly after a change in his enviroment. then i decided to try last night and he struck and grabbed it and held it in his mouth like he was going to eat it so i went to put his lid back on and leave him alone and it seemed like i startled him and he dropped it so i tried again and he seemed interested but never struck again that was last night so should i try again today since he grabbed it the first time or should i wait a week? ps sorry for the long post

I would try again, and if he drops it again, let it sit in the tank with him for a while, if you're feeding frozen that is. Or you can leave the top off for a few and let him swallow the food and then put the lid back on, you have to keep an eye on him though.

thanx yes feeding frozen and i kind of thought that but wanted some reassurance so i will give it another go! by the way superfast response!!!!!!!!

To be honest if he didn't eat it last night I would wait until at least 5 days before trying again. Trying to feed to often can stress a bp out, and cause it not to eat for longer periods of time. Just my opinion though....

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Originally Posted by dragonboy4578

To be honest if he didn't eat it last night I would wait until at least 5 days before trying again. Trying to feed to often can stress a bp out, and cause it not to eat for longer periods of time. Just my opinion though....

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ok this is what i was worried about i havent tried again yet as i was waiting until night so now i got 1 and 1 anybody else i appreciate both of your opinions

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Originally Posted by jamesh1979

ok this is what i was worried about i haven't tried again yet as i was waiting until night so now i got 1 and 1 anybody else i appreciate both of your opinions

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Heres my take as a non-BP owner.

Try again tonight. If he doesn't take it, wait 4 or 5 days and try again.

The snake was clearly acclimated enough, and hungry enough, to be willing to eat. It would appear that placing the lid back on the enclosure is what caused the failure to feed. If you do try again, simply make it as undisturbing a process as possible. As someone else said, leave it in the enclosure for a while if it wont take to it right away.

Wait a couple of days.
Next time you try, I hope you are using feeding tongs...................
After he strikes and coils on it, hold it by the tail and wiggle the f/t a little.
Kind of like it is trying to fight back.
He will coil tighter and it should up his prey drive;)
Just kick back and watch him till he gets it down then put the top back on.
Give him some time to get use to you feeding him, it will all be good:cool:

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Wait a couple of days.
Next time you try, I hope you are using feeding tongs...................
After he strikes and coils on it, hold it by the tail and wiggle the f/t a little.
Kind of like it is trying to fight back.
He will coil tighter and it should up his prey drive;)
Just kick back and watch him till he gets it down then put the top back on.
Give him some time to get use to you feeding him, it will all be good:cool:

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Really good advice, the wiggling will kick the feed response in hard and he should finish just fine. You could try to feed again but if you get a non response def wait a week before trying again.

I got lucky with mine, she will eat a frozen without even doing a shake, just drop it in her cage and she goes for it, I don't have to trick her. She barely even coils on it anymore.

Could the frozen thawed may have not been compleatly warm or thawed enough? Possibly try making sure that especially in the middle it's compleaty thawed and warm enough about 100.f. I beleive is what a normal rats temp is. If you have a digital heat gun check the temp like that or poke into the belly with your finger. With like a latex glove on or something. Should feel a little warm to you but not hot.

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

Could the frozen thawed may have not been compleatly warm or thawed enough? Possibly try making sure that especially in the middle it's compleaty thawed and warm enough about 100.f. I beleive is what a normal rats temp is. If you have a digital heat gun check the temp like that or poke into the belly with your finger. With like a latex glove on or something. Should feel a little warm to you but not hot.

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that is possible i thought for sure he was going to eat it! i cant help but think the only reason he didnt was because something i did he seems very comfortable goes into both hides daily doesnt look at the top anymore, etc