Another BP not eating

Okay just so I get this right. This supposed good breeder sent you a hatchling so young it may (or may not) have taken possibly two meals and then wasn't much help when you contacted him/her? Lovely...sigh.

So the little one is now taking feeds in it's home enclosure and you've got lots of scrunched up newspaper in there? Remember to not remove that newspaper all at once and personally I wouldn't remove any of it until you've gotten at least 3 or 4 decent feeds into the baby. Then remove only a bit of it each week so very slowly over time the snake adjusts. If it stresses or refuses again, keep that newspaper in there. It's not pretty but it's a proven "trick" that a lot of us use. I've used it with a huge adult female BP that was super nervous and it worked like a charm for her too so it's just not for the babies.

Congrats on the feeding!

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Okay just so I get this right. This supposed good breeder sent you a hatchling so young it may (or may not) have taken possibly two meals and then wasn't much help when you contacted him/her? Lovely...sigh.

So the little one is now taking feeds in it's home enclosure and you've got lots of scrunched up newspaper in there? Remember to not remove that newspaper all at once and personally I wouldn't remove any of it until you've gotten at least 3 or 4 decent feeds into the baby. Then remove only a bit of it each week so very slowly over time the snake adjusts. If it stresses or refuses again, keep that newspaper in there. It's not pretty but it's a proven "trick" that a lot of us use. I've used it with a huge adult female BP that was super nervous and it worked like a charm for her too so it's just not for the babies.

Congrats on the feeding!

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Actually, I was bad and took out the newspaper. He kept squashing it all up into his water dish. He seems pretty comfy in there, since there's hardly any free area - just water dish and little hides.

darned double post

Maybe in lieu of the paper and to add security, add in some fake plants? I did that with my guy, bought some ugly fake ivy from a craft store that was really cheap. Then I cut some off, put it in his cage and would take it out after it had sat in his water dish awhile to keep the mildew away. That way you don't have soggy newspaper screwing up your humidity?

Silly things being so convinced we want to eat them!

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Originally Posted by mousch

Maybe in lieu of the paper and to add security, add in some fake plants? I did that with my guy, bought some ugly fake ivy from a craft store that was really cheap. Then I cut some off, put it in his cage and would take it out after it had sat in his water dish awhile to keep the mildew away. That way you don't have soggy newspaper screwing up your humidity?

Silly things being so convinced we want to eat them!

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That's a good idea, though I've had to add some wet paper towels for humidity since I've been using a space heater. Darn thing just blows away all the humidity.

Anyway, I'm going to see how he does in his setup as is, but if he seems freaked out, I'll try the fake plants. He really doesn't strike me as stressed, but like I've said before, I know mammals better than reptiles.

It just makes me sooo happy to see the mouse-shaped speedbump.

Update!

I checked up on my mice this afternoon. One of the two remaining, the one Garret had struck and released, had died. Out of some utter impatience, I stuck the other mouse in Garret's tub. I knew there was no chance of anything happening, but whatever.

I turn my back for one second and I hear a scuffle...I hurry back and lift the lid, worried that the mouse had bitten Garret. But it was the other way around! Good ol' Garret downed another mouse! I'm hoping he'll take scented f/t fuzzy rats next time, since I don't think mice are really big enough for him.

http://static.flickr.com/99/280915965_d061a147bb_m.jpg

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Originally Posted by dangermouth

Update!

I checked up on my mice this afternoon. One of the two remaining, the one Garret had struck and released, had died. Out of some utter impatience, I stuck the other mouse in Garret's tub. I knew there was no chance of anything happening, but whatever.

I turn my back for one second and I hear a scuffle...I hurry back and lift the lid, worried that the mouse had bitten Garret. But it was the other way around! Good ol' Garret downed another mouse! I'm hoping he'll take scented f/t fuzzy rats next time, since I don't think mice are really big enough for him.

http://static.flickr.com/99/280915965_d061a147bb_m.jpg

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If you're feeding live why aren't you supervising the feeding?! Thats extremely irresponsible live feeding habits IMO. Good thing he's eating though.

Thank you, o judgmental one. "Turned my back for a second" does not mean "unsupervised".

I know when my BP eats, my room has to be pitch black and well it's not always easy to see/watch him. If I hear any kind of russle I turn the light back on and check on him but normally that russle or wack sound is him getting the small rat.

Thank you.

Because Garret's tub is shallow frosted plastic, and he's prone to explore, I've had to keep the lid on and observe through the air holes. Last time, it took over a hour. Y'know, I didn't have my eye glued to the half inch hole the entire time. Just couldn't do it. But I did get a good idea of how the mouse was behaving, and no injuries occurred.

You're not likely to get horrible fatal bites in a second of inattentiveness. It's leaving a mouse (or worse, a rat) alone with the snake for ten minutes, a half hour, overnight. Even s o, I am only feeding live because he totally ignored f/t...I'm hoping that changes soon.