Help with feeding! BP striked and wrapped up mouse but now is not eating it.
A little different scenario tonight. I feed my 7 month old BPs every Thursday. Never a problem. They have eaten live mice to this point and are currently eating large mice. I picked up the mice at 3:45 today and they placed them, as usual, in a stapled paper bag.
The difference today compared to every other feeding is that I waited until my wife got home around 6:30 to feed them as she wanted to watch for the first time. The first mouse went fine to my first BP. The second mouse went from the bag to the enclosure dead. Seriously, it was dead. In retrospect, perhaps they ran out of air?
That being said, my BP caught the scent and moved towards it but froze in front of it waiting for it to move. 5 minutes later she was still in that position so I grabbed some tongs to wiggle it in front of her and she struck it and wrapped it up. 10 minutes later she was not eating it. Now, an hour later, she is laying beside it.
What do I do?
Re: Help with feeding! BP striked and wrapped up mouse but now is not eating it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
piedlover79
Remove the dead mouse. It was probably too cold by the time she went to try and eat it and she lost interest. Think about switching to f/t though if they are striking at dead mice on tongs. You could even heat that one up with a hair dryer and try again.
PS- you are super lucky they didn't eat their way out of that bag ;)
Okay, that is what I was wondering, do I remove the idea mouse. I think you are correct, I was surprised at how "dead" he was which means he could certainly have been cold.
Yes, f/t is one of my next steps. Wanted to try the switch to rat pups first.
And, yes, I kept the bags in front of me tonight until my wife got home!
Re: Help with feeding! BP striked and wrapped up mouse but now is not eating it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
piedlover79
Yup, once it lays there for an hour chances are it's a 'no go'.
I once bought some mice, put them in a box, had to make a quick stop...long story short spent an hour chasing three mice around my car.
Yes, that would not be fun! They can be quick.
I removed the mouse and used the blow dryer. The temp gun came in handy. Brought the mouse back and she had no interest. At all. Just not today for her.
Thank you for your help. I'm glad I removed the dead mouse.