Transitioning Hatching BP to f/t

I just got a hatching BP about 3 week ago. He's a lovely Banana Mystic het for g-stripe. Hatch date was sometime in May I believe. His weight is 101g and I currently have him in a cluttered 10g tank with 2 hides. The temps are 90 on the warm side and ambient is in the mid-high 70s. His breeder said he was on hopper mice and fuzzy rats and was an excellent eater. I wanted to start transitioning him onto f/t but he's being a tad picky about everything. What I've been trying is thawing a fuzzy rat at room temp and blasting it with a hair dryer before feeding. He does not seem interested in the rat at all. He'll kinda push the rat around and then try and hide under his tail. Does anyone have any other tips for getting a hatching transitioned? I'll feed live if I need to get him eating, but there's no reliable suppliers near by. I'd like to avoid that if possible.

Thank you!

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Originally Posted by SushiRoll

I just got a hatching BP about 3 week ago. He's a lovely Banana Mystic het for g-stripe. Hatch date was sometime in May I believe. His weight is 101g and I currently have him in a cluttered 10g tank with 2 hides. The temps are 90 on the warm side and ambient is in the mid-high 70s. His breeder said he was on hopper mice and fuzzy rats and was an excellent eater. I wanted to start transitioning him onto f/t but he's being a tad picky about everything. What I've been trying is thawing a fuzzy rat at room temp and blasting it with a hair dryer before feeding. He does not seem interested in the rat at all. He'll kinda push the rat around and then try and hide under his tail. Does anyone have any other tips for getting a hatching transitioned? I'll feed live if I need to get him eating, but there's no reliable suppliers near by. I'd like to avoid that if possible.

Thank you!

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Has he accepted any live meals from you so far?
If so, I'd recommend feeding what works for the time being, then transitioning to f/t a few weeks down the lroad after he is well established.

Contact Justin Kobylka for info on an article he wrote about getting a troublesome BP to eat. Great reading. Transition from mice to rats, etc.

Also Mutation Creation on live feeding rats that really builds up the snake's growth rate.

I have yet to try live. I was hoping he would be an easy transition into f/t. That'll probably be my next course of action.

If you haven't tried live, does that mean he hasn't taken a meal in at all?

Since he's so young, I would absolutely stick to what the breeder has been successfully feeding until he gains more weight. At his weight, you don't really have a luxury of waiting until he accepts FT. Once he gets more established, you may be able to transition him to F/T.

Just a quick update for everyone:

I offered him a live fuzzy on Saturday and he instantly went for it. I'm sure he was hungry, it's been almost 3 weeks since his last meal. I think I'll keep him on live fuzzies for a little bit to get his weight up. I'll work on transitioning him once he's a bit chonkier. Just gotta find a source of fuzzies that's not a hour away lol

That's great! I think once you're able to get him on a weekly eating schedule and get his weight up a bit you can try to offer F/T. Hopefully, you won't have an issue switching him.

Yes, definitely see if you have a reptile store or a rat breeder near you that can supply you with food. It's definitely tough to drive an hour for a fuzzy. I'd also give CL a try. What area are you in? Maybe a member of a forum can suggest someone local.

I'm in the Dayton, OH area. There are a few petstores that offer fuzzies but they're currently out atm.

Hey!! I have a ball python he is about 2 years old. He hasn’t eaten in a few months and I just found out his humidity was to low:( so I got a zoomed reptifogger and just set it up. he isn’t feeling like he normally does he kinda feels like alittle squishy instead of firm and I’m nervous that he isn’t gonna make it. Does anyone have any suggestions that could help me get him goin again?