First Attempt at Feeding: FAIL

Hey Everyone!

Well today I went and picked up a pinky mouse to feed to my BP. Unfortunately, it died on the way home. I decided to try to feed it to my snake anyway, but i tried everything and no luck. First, i took my BP outta his cage and into a shoe box rubbermaid and tried dangling the mouse with tweezers. Then i left it in the rubbermaid for a while and still nothing. So now my BP is back in his cage and the pinky is sitting in the middle of the cage..so first off is this safe for the health of my BP, and if so how long can i keep it in there?

Thanks in Advance!
Mike

Edit-You know what the feeder is actually a hopper mouse, i dont know if that makes a difference but yeah its a hopper

What is the rundown on your setup, BTW theres no need to remove the bp from its original enclosure for feeding

I would leave the pinkie in his cage over night. I've gotten some of my new snakes to feed like that before.

People often leave freshly thawed in over night. You're probably fine doing that.

Also how old is your BP, a pinkie mouse is rather small.

Sorry everyone just to clear something up, the mouse IS a Pinky i'm 95% sure. the guy told me it was a hopper because he was out of pinkies but i saw on a rodent supply website that a hopper is much bigger and furrir than what i have so it IS a Pinky

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

What is the rundown on your setup, BTW theres no need to remove the bp from its original enclosure for feeding

---

My Setup is 10 gal with cypress bedding, with a uth and one hide on the warm side and a heat lamp water bowl and a hide on the cool side with a climbing log in the middle. The temps are around 82 on the cool and 90-91 on the warm side with about 56% humidity.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by llovelace

Also how old is your BP, a pinkie mouse is rather small.

---

I'm not sure on age however he's about 18-20" i bought him last week and the guys at the reptile shop said to come back monday and they'd set me up with food and he gave me one pinky, and today i saw somewhere that my size snake should be eating 2 or 3 pinkies so i wanted ask about that too

Thanks Everyone

he should be eating a small mouse...

Try him on med mice or rat pup, see how he does. What is his weight?

Pinky is waaay too small, I started some of my hatchlings on hoppers and have recently bumped them to sub-adult mice last week, they grow quickly and I wouldnt recommend using anything too far below a hopper.

The only way you should be feeding pinkies is if it's an under sized hatchling that hasn't eaten. and if that's the case the breeder should of never sold it.

Ok so pinkies are actually pink with closed eyes...hoppers have hair and they really do hop...high and allot....lol. Typically hatchlings are started on hoppers so a pinkie is way to small. When you got your snake...did you put him in the enclosure and give him a couple of weeks alone with no touching? Also try to cover 3 sides of the tank to make him feel more private. Feed in the tank....the whole cage aggressive thing is a myth and typically moving to a different feeding area only stresses out the snake and causes often refusals. Remember to prekill the mouse due to the lack of hunting with the snake....I would continue to try with mice and once you get him eating regularly..try the switch to rats. Some BP's will never accept rats!!

Hang in there I know you are worried and stressed but this WILL pass and he will eat!! Promise!!

Another thing to try if you leave a f/t food item in overnight, place inside the warm hide, alot of times this will work.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by llovelace

Try him on med mice or rat pup, see how he does. What is his weight?

---

He's 55 grams, and like i about 18-20"

Thanks again everybody :)

He sounds extremely under weight for his length.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

Ok so pinkies are actually pink with closed eyes...hoppers have hair and they really do hop...high and allot....lol. Typically hatchlings are started on hoppers so a pinkie is way to small. When you got your snake...did you put him in the enclosure and give him a couple of weeks alone with no touching? Also try to cover 3 sides of the tank to make him feel more private. Feed in the tank....the whole cage aggressive thing is a myth and typically moving to a different feeding area only stresses out the snake and causes often refusals. Remember to prekill the mouse due to the lack of hunting with the snake....I would continue to try with mice and once you get him eating regularly..try the switch to rats. Some BP's will never accept rats!!

Hang in there I know you are worried and stressed but this WILL pass and he will eat!! Promise!!

---

Well i only left him alone for 6 days beacuse the guy at the pet store told me to feed him monday. Also, i just covered three sides last night, and thanks for your reassurance! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by raighe

He sounds extremely under weight for his length.

---

Well that isn't good at all. I bought him last Wed and the guy who sold him to me said that they all were eating and to feed him on moday, and thats where i ran into my feeding problem.

have you read the caresheet here? i dont know what store you got you lil guy from but it seems that most not all but most even reptile specialty shops give very very bad info on husbandry feeding and general care for animals.

id read up on care around this site youll find alot of differant ways on how people do things take it all in and find a way that works best for you but more importantly best your your bp.

Ok everybody, my BP has eaten :) I went to petsmart and bought a package of frozen small mice and within the first 5 minutes of dangling the mouse for him, he took it! Thank you to everybody who game me advice, i would have kept trying to feed him pinkies if it wasn't for you guys THANKS!! However i am still a little worried about what raighe said..does my snake sound to be underweight? I'm sure now that i know he eats it'll be fine, but should i feed him more often, or maybe two mice? I'm not too sure.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mbasile35

Ok everybody, my BP has eaten :) I went to petsmart and bought a package of frozen small mice and within the first 5 minutes of dangling the mouse for him, he took it! Thank you to everybody who game me advice, i would have kept trying to feed him pinkies if it wasn't for you guys THANKS!! However i am still a little worried about what raighe said..does my snake sound to be underweight? I'm sure now that i know he eats it'll be fine, but should i feed him more often, or maybe two mice? I'm not too sure.

---

you can put him on a 5 day feeding and hell come around. there is no need to over feed

If you keep him on appropriately sized meals every 5 days, he will get nice and plump rather fast.

55 grams is a pretty typical hatchling weight, like, right out of the egg. Sounds to me like he might have not had enough meals with the person you bought it from.

woooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooo!! :gj: Congrats!! Like others stated....put him on a 5 day rotation and he will gain weight like a crazy man soon. The hardest thing for me just starting was what size to feed. The easiest for me is to go by the thickest part of their body. You can always do the 10-15% of their body weight but this always seemed pretty small to me...plus you would need a scale. Don't worry...I know easier said than done when you are new at this.!!


Remember...take what most pet stores say with a grain of salt. Sometimes I hear some truly crazy things...:rolleyes:

So...how long before your second one...;)

Kaorte is right, yep. I have babies hatching right now, and just hatched out 66 gram Woma. The prev clutch was in the 55 to 60 gram range. That's brand spanking new, right out of the egg and shiny.

Your little guy was either a serious runt, or is very underweight. Runts DO happen, I hatched a het albino last year that tipped the scales at 34 grams out of the egg--she fed normally and eventually nearly caught up with her peers.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

So...how long before your second one...;)

---

haha as soon this one grows out of his ten gal :D