BP - Staying in Hide

Mine stays in his hides now he's settled in, only exploring when I do a clean/change and move some stuff around. It's a small space and I'm sure they have some capacity to "remember" their surroundings, so there isn't much need for him to be exploring every night like the place is new to him.

Head out is common and mine's default state, he'll be watching us from about now (just now dark out) until bedtime. He actually throws tantrums if I give him hides he can't peek out of. (He gets huffy, tries to burrow under and flip the hides to sit in them, etc.)

This is with mine specifically, but I think he recognizes the vibration of the blow dryer. If he's awake and I turn it on (even if not heating a rodent) he'll make a show of cramming his face up against the glass and staring at us for food hanging half out of his hide. Last time, he was so eager (he fasted for two weeks for whatever reason) he spent 15 minutes trying to eat the food crammed upside down against the front glass.

As the others have said, he might take the rat no issues. Mine takes either willingly.

As mentioned, scenting is an option.

Another trick is waiting for a shed and cutting off the food supply soon as you see them dulling out; make them not eat for the week+ it takes. They tend to be ravenous afterward.

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Originally Posted by hollowlaughter

Another trick is waiting for a shed and cutting off the food supply soon as you see them dulling out; make them not eat for the week+ it takes. They tend to be ravenous afterward.

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I've been waiting for that 1st shed for close to 3 months now. I'm hoping the conversion to rats will force him into shed ;)

I don't know how other snakes are, but Maze starts hiding as soon as she's approaching her shed cycle. She's usually very, very active at night, but when shed approaches, she is nowhere to be seen. It could be from handling, or it could be an approaching shed, or it could be that your boy is just naturally very shy. But, from my own personal experience, I'd say it might be a shed cycle ;).

(again, it could be lots of things, and there's nothing wrong with them hiding a majority of the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

It sounds to me like there is no problem, no issues here. If your bp is eating frozen thawed mice, hiding, healthy... just try it on the rat the same as the mice. I hear a lot of people say they have problems switching them over, but dont assume you will have the same issues. I have never experienced a problem switching from mice to rats. Just feed it like always. If theres an issue then... theres plenty of options.