Help me get my BP to eat!!

A friend of mine recently decided to move and was no longer able to take care of her 5 year old BP so now have had him for about a month and i cannot get him to eat anything. I've tried frozen thawed, leaving mouse in tank over night, feeding live, he just doesn't seem to be interested. He checks it out real quick but doesnt pursue the meal. I have just recently changed one of hides and his water bowl but besides that I haven't been bugging him for the most part. I've read that BP's have been known to go up to a year w/o eating so I'm not super worried it just bothers me a little that hes not eating. He did just shed so I did allow a few days before i tried to feed again. All the temps and humidity are dead on. Please any 1 have any tips to help??

What size and type of enclosure is your bp in? I know you said that your temps and humidity are dead on, but what are you using to measure them, and what are they. What type of heat source do you have how do you regulate it? The better you can explain your set up the more informed answer you will get.

I use a fully enclosed tank with a front locking window. Approx. 2' deep by 3'wide. It has a ceramic heat plate offset to one side. I measure temp with a heat gun. Hot side runs 88-90 colder side 80-84.

Ceramic heat plate?
First time I've heard that....
Adults in new places take longer to adjust as opposed to youngins...
He/she may just not be comfortable yet.
Try offering a smaller sized meal.

Sent from my MB611 using Tapatalk

I'll give it a shot. He's used to eating live so should I stick with that?

Please describe 'ceramic heat plate'.

First DO NOT ever leave live prey with a snake for an extended period of time. When I'm feeding live if they haven't grabbed it within 15 min they aren't going to. I think he's still stressed from the move. It sounds as if the offering if different things and the prey being left with him overnight is stressing him. Which it will def does. Leave him alone for a full 2 wks. Offer prey 1x every 5 days no sooner and start with live. But again if he doesn't take it with in 20 min take it out. Ck your temps if you arr using a ceramic your belly temps probably aren't right. Measure the temps at the bottom of the tank where he is. Chck all your husbandry. And most of all leave him alone.

Its a rectangular "tile" that heats up. It has a digital gauge that monitors the temp for me via probe that feeds back into the tank. Pretty nifty

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

First DO NOT ever leave live prey with a snake for an extended period of time. When I'm feeding live if they haven't grabbed it within 15 min they aren't going to. I think he's still stressed from the move. It sounds as if the offering if different things and the prey being left with him overnight is stressing him. Which it will def does. Leave him alone for a full 2 wks. Offer prey 1x every 5 days no sooner and start with live. But again if he doesn't take it with in 20 min take it out. Ck your temps if you arr using a ceramic your belly temps probably aren't right. Measure the temps at the bottom of the tank where he is. Chck all your husbandry. And most of all leave him alone.

---

I never left live prey with him for longer than 30 mins. I left z thawed mouse with him over night. The belly temps are fine I use a temp gun to check under hides and other spots around the tank. I'll tell you if he starts eating again after a couple weeks.

You also should cover the sides and top with black paper to make him feel secure! I would change his hide and water bowl back to his old ones because that is what he is familiar with. Sometimes a change in the environment can have a snake go off feed! I would leave him alone for two weeks then offer food only once a week! If he doesn't eat then leave him alone for a week then try again! Keep repeating until he eats a couple of weeks in a row! Feed live as that is what he is used to. You need to try to feed as close as you can to how the previous owner did if you know that info! Good luck!!!

No offense meant that's just how the post read id rather say it and make it clear than to have someone think that leaving live prey in with a snake overnight was ok. Sorry if I offended you.

Sometimes changing their favorite hide can cause the problem. Id also try putting the old one back in there.

Put everything back and don't do anything aside from change water for two weeks. if he poops, spot clean, he won't die from having a little poop in the cage while he adjusts. Try a live prey that is as close as you can get to what he was used to, but perhaps a little smaller. Some BPs can get picky about dark/light colored food. If he doesn't eat, try again in a week, same thing. when he is comfortable and settled, he should start eating again. They can go up to three-four months without losing too much weight as long as they were a good size before fasting, so don't stress. The more you stress, the more you will stress him out too!

Also get a digital scale and every other week take a weight. That way you'll know whether you have a breeding fast or an Ill snake. Snakes that are fasting will lose very little weight. Snakes that are ill will Lose quick dramatic weight. That will save you 1000x of worry. I got my digital scale for 10$ it's a kitchen scale. Works miracles

shoot my male went off eating back in october and he finally started eating again but it took a gerbil to get him to eat now he is striking every rat i throw in there. thats how i had to get him to start back up last year when he went off feeding 1 gerbil to get his other head to start working and he hasnt refused a meal for me and thats been 2 weeks now and last week he ate 2 small-medium rats.

Just to put this in there just in case someone doesn't know... Using a live gerbil is dangerous, and gerbils should only be fed pre killed or frozen thawed. They are much much more aggressive than rats or mice and have strong claws and sharp teeth. That should only be used in dire circumstances and really I never recommend them then. There's really no need to change food. Most of the time waiting it out and using the scale to know what's going on with the animal ie breeding mode or stress or illness. But ive never had to change food. Patience, excellent husbandry, and vigilance are the key to these guys.