week 3 feeding, stressed?

We tried to feed my bp Parker last night. This is his 3rd week/3rd feeding. He still hasn't quite gotten the hang of it. He doesn't coil and drops his food a lot. Also, no matter how much we try to get him to take it by the head, he likes to strike right at the center, on the belly. I even tried to make sure the head was warmer than the rest of the body. Anyway, he struck once last night and then dropped the mouse and didn't know what to do with it. So, we picked it up again and started the process over. He didn't strike again, he just kinda kept smelling it and eventually just wanted to go on the tongs. I even put the mouse down on top of one of his hides at one point and he just sat by it smelling it for a while but didn't try to eat it. After a while we decided dto throw the mouse out and try again next week. Anyway, I don't know if maybe I tried for too long or something and stressed him out because he is up and about today in his enclosure. Normally by morning he is in one of his hides and doesn't come out until 7:30 or 8pm. But he is out and active and I read that could mean he is stressed out. What should I do?

There could be so many things wrong here, so it's hard to know. Make sure that the enclosure is setup properly, that the heat/humidity are correct and then try again. I don't recommend handling your snake while it's not eating, since it's likely not eating due to stress. Assuming everything is setup properly, and you're not adding to the stress by handling it - then just try once a week and don't be too worried. When your snake is ready, it will eat. If you snake refuses to eat for 2 months, then you can start to "try things". Until then, just offer the thawed rat/mouse to your snake. If it doesn't strike, then leave it in the enclosure overnight. If its still there in the morning - get rid of it and try again next week.

If you need help with setting up your enclosure you can check out our site, we have a very extensive resources page with lots of videos (or just search this forum).

the enclosure is set up fine. 2 hides -warm side between 89 and 92 controlled by UTH and thermostat, cool side 80. ambient temp 80. humidity is at 51% right now. i just don't know why he's acting so different, ie. up and active in the daytime. and we do handle him, i won't today and i told my step-son to leave him alone and let him stop being upset (he's 3 and doesn't know what stressed means). he's been fine up to this point, we've had him for almost a month now. i'm ok with him not eating, i know that can happen and they can be picky. i'm more worried about his activity level.

I had that problem too and what I started doing was holding the mouse/rat at the scruff of the neck so that when they strike, the basically get the head in their mouth (not always but usually). You can also keep the mouse in there over night if its f/t but I usually throw it away in the morning if they haven't eaten by then. Last time I fed Nibs he actually ate the mouse tail first and then last night Cody grabbed, squeezed, dropped, and then spent about 3 minutes trying to find a good place on the rat to start. I did like you did and heated the head of it more than the rest too, so I think you got it right except I would have left the mouse in over night. Maybe try to feed again in two days or and not wait an entire week if he seems to be hunting.

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Originally Posted by jarobin

the enclosure is set up fine. 2 hides -warm side between 89 and 92 controlled by UTH and thermostat, cool side 80. ambient temp 80. humidity is at 51% right now. i just don't know why he's acting so different, ie. up and active in the daytime. and we do handle him, i won't today and i told my step-son to leave him alone and let him stop being upset (he's 3 and doesn't know what stressed means). he's been fine up to this point, we've had him for almost a month now. i'm ok with him not eating, i know that can happen and they can be picky. i'm more worried about his activity level.

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All you can do as a BP owner is create the proper environment, the rest will happen as it happens :) Don't worry.

could that be why he is moving around the enclosure? he's hungry and hunting?

Is he showing interest in the prey? If so, you may have to try live food to get him started. That sounds a lot like what my boa used to do for the first couple weeks that we had her. She was on live from where we got her, and when I tried to give her f/t she'd strike at it, coil a bit, and then if I moved while she could see me, she'd let go of it and stare at me instead, as if to say "haha that's funny, now where's my real food?".

What worked for me with the boa was to draw the blinds in the room and turn off all the lights in the room but one small one, then when she took the prey I'd shut the other light and quietly leave the room and come back to check later. Usually by then she had eaten it. You could try that with the f/t, and if he hasn't eaten it when you checked back, then leave it overnight and hope he eats it.

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Originally Posted by Alexandra V

Is he showing interest in the prey? If so, you may have to try live food to get him started. That sounds a lot like what my boa used to do for the first couple weeks that we had her. She was on live from where we got her, and when I tried to give her f/t she'd strike at it, coil a bit, and then if I moved while she could see me, she'd let go of it and stare at me instead, as if to say "haha that's funny, now where's my real food?".

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he's shown interest. he was on f/t at the pet store and he has eaten it when we've given it to him, he tried yesterday but dropped it and didn't know what to do. also, we still have repti-bark in there and he got it caught in his mouth last week and i had to remove it. he ate fine that day, after it was removed. still, i don't want him eating it off the substrate until i get something better. i left it on top of one of his hides for a couple hours but he didn't do anything.

right now he is coiled around the little climbing branch in his enclosure, smelling the screen top, looks like he's trying to get out (banging against it)

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Originally Posted by jarobin

could that be why he is moving around the enclosure? he's hungry and hunting?

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Yea I would say it is especially if you have everything else right and I'm sure you do since I've read your previous posts and know that he has been eating before. Hopefully he'll eat on the next go 'round.

How long after he dropped it did you let him sniff around it? I have a few snakes that always stike, drop and sniff around before eating. My ivory (who should be named Diva instead of Deja) will strike, constrict, forget about it, come back about an hour later and then eat it :rolleyes:

Also, Ive rarely had luck re offering a food item after they take it once. Maybe he just needs a little more time to think about it?

They strike at the prey because of the heat coming off of the prey, it sounds like you might be offering the f/t too cold and it's not liking it even after it strikes it.

i let him sniff it for a few minutes, but like i said, i don't want him eating it off the reptibark since he started almost choking on it last week. and the mouse was about 90 degrees according to my temp gun. i reheated it a few times - both with a blow dryer, from a distance... and putting it under the heat lamp for a short amount of time. i did the same thing ive done 2 other times and he took it those times. he drops it because he strikes the belly and can't swallow it that way.
i am not worried - at all - about the fact he didn't eat because i know its not a problem. i wasn't sure if i stressed him out though by trying for too long to feed him. i am only worried about how active he is being during the daytime.

I agree. It sounds like perhaps it wasn't warm enough. The laser thermometers are really handy becasue you van check the temp of the rat easily.
I believe a rats normal body temp is around 100.f. So the rat needs to be heated to that. The Middles are always the last to thaw out. Generally when I used to thaw and feed I left the prey out over night and then warmed it in hot water and blasted it with the hair dryer. If it's too cold they may strike and coil it but then because of the shock of cold on their mouths they drop it.

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

Generally when I used to thaw and feed I left the prey out over night and then warmed it in hot water and blasted it with the hair dryer. [/url]

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that is exactly what i do. i will try to get it warmer next time, but he has eaten no problem before this.




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again though, im not worried about the not eating. he will eat, he has in the past, he will eat again. i dont really know how to make it more clear, that i was just worried that he was moving around all day and not in his hide like normal. i haven't really gotten many responses on what i was actually concerned about. he's in his hide now though. so i will just wait it out and see if he comes back out in the daytime or not.

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Originally Posted by jarobin

... i haven't really gotten many responses on what i was actually concerned about. he's in his hide now though. so i will just wait it out and see if he comes back out in the daytime or not.

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like I said I think he's just maybe hunting and he was looking for the food he had squeezed and now it's gone.

If you are worried about him eating the substrate, I would say either a) put him on paper towels or b) get a largeish paper plate and feed on that. I have planter drip catchers for hides, so when I feed i usually flip over the cool side hide and put the heated up rat down on that. When he comes to investigate, I give it a little prod or shake with the tongs and once he strikes, I close the lid of the tub and tun off the lights and leave him alone. When snakes eat, they are very vulnerable, they are out in the open and they cant go anywhere fast. If its is bright and there are giants (you and your family) hovering he might not feel comfortable swallowing. Next time you try once he strikes, just close the lid, cover the viv and leave him alone. Once he is a bit more established, there will be plenty of time to watch him eat. It usually takes my guy about 20 minutes from the time he strikes to start swallowing, so be way patient, and resist the urge to check on him.

i am feeding live right now to my young one. we have had 3 feedings now. the first two he struck the middle and coiled then he would take a couple minutes getting back to the head. so maybe yours did just need some more time to get back to it and get swallowing. our first feeding i tried f/t two day in a row with no luck so then on the third day i just got live. anyways, you shouldnt have to wait for next week to feed again.

good luck, dave

The substrate issue isn't as bad as you probably think it is. Anything large enough to cause serious damage is usually knocked off during the process of eating, and anything smaller won't really hurt them.

Failed feeding attempts usually result in an "escape attempt" where the snake will look for ways out. It's usually due to the fact that they aren't in the mood to eat and they can smell the mouse and want to get away from the other animal(at least in my experience). Once the smell clears the tank, they usually settle down and go back in their hide.

Regarding striking at the belly, that's actually pretty common, especially while they're eating small mice. If you think about it, they're going for the neck in most cases since they need to hold the mouse still while they constrict. Usually after the strike they move their way to the head. If they're trying to eat it sideways and can't figure out how to eat head first, that's typically a sign that you should look to move up a mouse size.