Still not eating and VERY active

I've been trying to switch my BP to F/T mice for about 3.5 weeks, and he has yet to go for it. During this time, he has also become VERY active in his tub. Roaming a lot, often during the day, and frequently trying to push the lid up with his head (presumably to get out). He also now comes out of his hides any chance I go near his tub to see what's going on. Before trying to make the switch to F/T, he used to eat every 5 days like clockwork and tended to be more active a day before feeding. Otherwise, he kept to his hides, more in line with the classic "A hiding BP is a happy BP."

I'm not sure if his change in behavior is due to his hunger or if he's stressed. Anything to worry about or look for at this point? Also, he's about 6 months old and ~470g at last weigh in. I know adults can go months (or a year even) without eating, but how long is too long for a BP this age?

Husbandry is good, as far as I can tell. 2 hides, water bowl, paper towels, hot side belly temp 90-93, cool side ambient 78-81. I attempt feeding a F/T mouse every 5 days at night in low-light conditions.

Lower your hot side temp. Should be a high of 90. Did you try doing pre killed on the tong feedings before switching to just F/T?

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Originally Posted by Flikky

Lower your hot side temp. Should be a high of 90. Did you try doing pre killed on the tong feedings before switching to just F/T?

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Yep. He has taken pre-killed at least 5 times before, both off tongs and on his own after leaving it in his tub. I have tried frozen in the past once before and after 1-2 refusals, went back to pre-killed or live. I'm trying to be consistent and stick with frozen from here on out because my access to live food is limited.

Granted, I'm newer to this with bp's but since he's taken pre-killed before without an issue and yet is refusing f/t, I would wonder if this is a prey temperature issue. You don't want to get the rat/mouse too warm but at the same time, not warmed through can cause them to refuse as well. I've switched all 4 of my bp's straight to f/t without an issue. Every single refusal I saw was due to a rat not being warm enough or being too warm. Once I warmed them up or let them cool down properly, the bp would take it right away. The prey should feel slightly warm but not hot. Personally, I use my dragon's heat lamp to get them to the right temp and just go by feel. If it feels like a live rat in my hand, it's good.

Try rats, a bp that size should be on rats anyway. Your temps sound fine, and the extra activity im sure is from hunger.

Have you tried braining the mice? That might do the trick.

Make sure you're heating the mice enough. A mouse's body temp is 98 degrees F.

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Originally Posted by Dracoluna

Granted, I'm newer to this with bp's but since he's taken pre-killed before without an issue and yet is refusing f/t, I would wonder if this is a prey temperature issue.

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Originally Posted by barbie.dragon

Make sure you're heating the mice enough. A mouse's body temp is 98 degrees F.

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Yeah, I've been trying to do that as well. I've been warming them to temp sitting in hot water (from the faucet) and/or under a CHE. I use an IR gun to get the temp up to 100 degrees and warm to touch.

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Originally Posted by cmack91

Try rats, a bp that size should be on rats anyway. Your temps sound fine, and the extra activity im sure is from hunger.
Have you tried braining the mice? That might do the trick.

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I tried frozen rat pups in the past and he didn't go for it. I went back to mice since I figured that would be easier, and it'd be only changing one thing at a time. My intention always was to go to rats; instead, he's been eating 2 mice per feeding to reach 10-15% body weight. Overall, he seems like a pretty picky eater, but I only have one BP and no basis for comparison.

Is braining the mice splitting their heads open? If so, no, I haven't done that yet. What's the typical method for doing this?

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Originally Posted by Marduk

Yeah, I've been trying to do that as well. I've been warming them to temp sitting in hot water (from the faucet) and/or under a CHE. I use an IR gun to get the temp up to 100 degrees and warm to touch.



I tried frozen rat pups in the past and he didn't go for it. I went back to mice since I figured that would be easier, and it'd be only changing one thing at a time. My intention always was to go to rats; instead, he's been eating 2 mice per feeding to reach 10-15% body weight. Overall, he seems like a pretty picky eater, but I only have one BP and no basis for comparison.

Is braining the mice splitting their heads open? If so, no, I haven't done that yet. What's the typical method for doing this?

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Stupid question but when you say that you're warming them to temp sitting in hot water, is the mouse getting wet? If so, try letting them thaw in the fridge and then heating using a light, etc. where they are not wet. It does take some of the smell off and my bp's look at me funny when I've tried feeding them wet rats. Corns don't mind eating wet prey but bps seem to.

Braining is opening their heads. With pinks, I just use a toothpick but with an adult, take the tip of a steak knife or some small, sharp knife to split their head open just a bit on the forehead of the mouse. It's not very pretty but it does increase the smell.

My balls all eat wet rats. I haven't had a problem with it *shrug* I get the rats as hot as possible in water from my bath tub. They cool off pretty quickly. Of course, I do make sure to dry the rats off pretty well

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Originally Posted by Dracoluna

Stupid question but when you say that you're warming them to temp sitting in hot water, is the mouse getting wet? If so, try letting them thaw in the fridge and then heating using a light, etc. where they are not wet. It does take some of the smell off and my bp's look at me funny when I've tried feeding them wet rats. Corns don't mind eating wet prey but bps seem to.

Braining is opening their heads. With pinks, I just use a toothpick but with an adult, take the tip of a steak knife or some small, sharp knife to split their head open just a bit on the forehead of the mouse. It's not very pretty but it does increase the smell.

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Yeah, the mouse does get wet. I keep them in a ziploc, but they get wet inevitably. I pat them dry, which is what I gathered other people did. I'll definitely try heating by other methods though. Never thought about the water reducing the smell, but it must. My BP seems more receptive to smell than anything else, and my main gripe about trying F/T is that even when fully thawed, they don't smell as much as prekilled or live.

And I'll resort to braining if I have to. Thanks for the info.