New Young BP Wont eat.

Here are the things I recently recommended to someone else

• 6 quarts tub
• Aspen bedding
• 1 - 6 inches plastic flower pot saucer
• NO HANDLING - NO TAKING IT OUT OF THE ENCLOSURE TO WATCH HIM until he is a consistent feeder.
• Temps gradient of 78 (cool) to 88 (warm) - Your temps on the cool side fluctuate too much.
• Live hopper mouse offer in the enclosure.

Once you make the switch wait a week before offering food.

Personally I would give it a full 7-10 days to acclimate again. Relocate it to a quieter part of the house if you haven't already. Your on the right path with husbandry. The advise given anove is excellent. After it has acclimated try feeding live as suggested above. I am new to BP's as well an feeding live was a
what my breeder was feeding. It worked like a charm.

As far as noise goes, I have always preferred caves the open from the front with sliding doors for reptiles. Your hand won't seem like a predator entering the cage from above. They are also quieter to open. So
Something to consider when you start moving it up to bigger cages. Many people use tanks like yous successfully and it may get used to it.

I hope it eats for you soon it is stressful but try and be patient. Best advise I was given :)

Snakes are deaf, and "hear" by vibrations they pick up through their jaws, so kids being noisy wont really effect the snake. At night, since you use the computer for movies, throw a blanket over the cage, making sure you leave 1/4th of the screen top uncovered for adequate airflow. It doesn't matter how loud the cage is when it's being opened, as long as you're not giving the entire enclosure a sudden jolt as that would startle just about anyone if their house started shaking. High traffic areas where people are constantly passing by the cage and looking inside it will also stress it out next to inconsistent husbandry. Also to capitalize on Whispersinmyhead's post above me, it's always best to tap on the cage gently to alert the animal of your presence so that you aren't taken as an immediate threat before you reach in for him/her.

As for feeding - if it was being fed live hoppers by the previous owner/breeder, I'd stick with that. I generally feed all mice live but when feeding small rats I pre-kill them that way there's no chance of injury. If you want to reduce the risk of your snake being bit, pick up a set of feeding tongs so that your snake has a higher chance of a clean strike, minimizing the risk of the prey item being able to reach around and start biting.

Best of luck!

We are new to the BP world as well. Ours stuck a couple times and at right away. Now she seems to have become "shy"- she "hovers" over her prey (F/T) until its dark. Then eats it after we leave her alone. I often cover the tank with towel as well- to give her more privacy. (after feeding)

I think letting her settle is key lesson i've read on here. Also, ours was in her hide last night when we put the mouse inside and she never came out. I actually blew in her tank and apparently that was enough to get the scent to her hide- she came right out, flcking her tongue, searching for food. I think everyones advice to "fire her up" with the scent of it, before you drop it in, might help.

Good luck!

PS. Just a side bar- I keep a damp hand towel on part of our screen top to help keep humidity up. seems to really work for us.

Ok, so today i got on amazon for a second hydrofarm thermostat for the cold side.
I contacted my buddy with the smaller tank and will go by tomorrow to pick it up.
I let my son pull him out again this afternoon because he really loves his snake, i thought i would let him get one more good handling session with him before his three or four week no touching period.
Based on Twists post im not sure if I will switch him into the smaller tank yet.
I'm still up in the air on it.
Here is what im going to do.
:snake: Stop Handling.
:snake:Cover front of cage (all the time? not sure)
:snake:regulate the cold side with a hydrofarm and a second heat pad
:snake:in four days I will try a live hopper
:snake: no handling for three feedings.

If he doesn't take the hopper in the next 8 days (2 sepearte feeding sessions) I will set up the smaller tank in my bedroom and move him in there.

How does that sounds?

Again , thanks for all the help, it is much appreciated.

Brought home the little hopper (smallest one i could find).
I have been covering the tank at night for the last few days.
He was out at about 6 pm when i came home and i presented but didnt get much response.
So i put the mouse away for a bit.
At 11:00 (tank was all covered up). He was out hanging around, I presented and didnt see much response, decided to drop him in and , pretty close to in front of him.
Almost instant response, he struck him, held on to him and then dropped him.
I just let him be and he is currently eating him.
Thanks to everyone, im so happy.
Will let you know how it ends up. at least the mouse looks dead, if nothing else.

I saw him stretching out around him, and left for a few to give him som privacy.
Mouse is nowhere to be seen.
I wlll check in the tank in a few. I don't wanna disturb him.
Very happy. Thanks to all.
:)