Advice Please

Welcome to BP.net. :handshake

At 20 years old, I wouldn't assume he's on death's door due to old age or anything. :P He could potentially live another 10-20 years if well taken care of.

We'd love to see some pictures of him. Besides just the enjoyment of seeing him, it would also help us to help you evaluate what kind of feeding regimen might be best for him.

Where are you located? Maybe you can find someone local to you who keeps snakes and they can either let you buy feeders off of them, share feeder orders, or point you in the right direction for feeder-priced rodents, rather than paying a ridiculous $4 a pop for a mouse from a pet store. Local herp shows are also a good source for picking up feeders, especially frozen ones. Saves a lot on having frozen ones shipped.

In the meantime, what I would do if I were in your shoes would be to continue to feed him what he's used to eating, but increase the frequency of it. And then maybe add a mouse or two to the feeding schedule if he seems to want more to eat. And once he's fully settled in and used to his new home and routine with you, THEN try offering him a frozen/thawed mouse. Maybe right after he's taken a live one. If he eats that one...try f/t as the first offering at the next scheduled feeding.

Once he's used to eating f/t mice...then you could consider switching him to rats. Rats are nice because you can use fewer rodents to achieve the same volume of food, but nutritionally speaking, it doesn't matter which you choose to feed. So long as the snake is eating, it's all good.

I have an OLD male. I have no idea how old he actually is because he was an adult when I got him, and was an adult when he was taken in by the people who rescued him in the first place. He's got scars on his body that make it look like he was actually wild caught from Africa, but who knows? Point is, he's likely very old because he's huge for a male. (over 3000 grams) He eats very little. I offer him food every two weeks, but he averages about one small rat per month. That's his choice, not mine. And sometimes he'll skip even that.

Once you have your old man on a routine, and you're sure he's at a strong, healthy weight, you may find that he doesn't eat very much at all.