Troublle getting my BP to eat...age?

So I have a new Bp that I got to weeks ago. I have tries to feed him 3 times now and he has yet to eat. know this may not be a problem but I was told by a friend who is a herpetologist and he said it possible that since I don't know the snakes age exactly it may not have been fed ever and that since BP are hard to get started to eat that might be why. I got the BP from a breeder and a herp show but I forgot to ask how old. According to the breeder he had been fed but I don't know the rep of the breeder so its possible she was not telling me the truth. I know that its hard to tell the age of a BP given its based on feeding but is it possible to tell the age of a BP assuming that there is a chance it hasn't eaten? Odin is 59g and 16-18inches long. Is it even possible that he hasn't eaten? Thanks for the help.

What size prey are you offering? And how frequently are you trying?

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I am offering f/t mouse hoppers. What the breeder told me she had fed him before, supposedly. I have heated them till they are warm all the way through. I tried once a week ago and I had tried about four days before that. I was told by the breeder that he was supposedly fed a week before I got him which was almost exactly two weeks ago.

Edit: My husbandry is good 90 for the warm cool side ambient of 79 and 51% humidity.

If you can get them locally, you might try a live mouse hopper or rat fuzzy.

Unfortunately I can't get those locally...atleast I don't think so. I am pretty sure I can only get adults.

You need to try live, or at least a different color, i have an adult spider male and all he will eat is white mice, all the others will only eat rats with color. Just try multiple prey options.

I would the problem is I don't really have other prey options. There is no place locally that sells anything but live white feeder mice.(I can see if they have hoppers but I don't think they do) A local pet store does sell frozen hoppers but I wouldn't be surprised it they are white as well. Any suggestion on a solution?

Im gonna suggest live also. Babies like to have warm moving food. It helps to trigger there feeding response.

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Thanks for the suggestions. I will see if I can get live hoppers (should I kill them first or leave them live? don't want Odin to get hurt). Also part of my first Q was whether or not it is possible he could have not been fed yet? Is there an average size of hatchlings? and if so what is it?

No keep them alive just make sure you are watching. If he dorsnt eat after 20 min take it out.

There is no average size. I have a 2 month old thats 78g and a 3month old thata 160g.

I would wait a week before trying to feed again though.. Over attempting to feed xan actually stress out a lil one.

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So since he wouldn't eat last night I weighed Odin today just so I could keep track and make sure he isn't loosing to much. Well last week he was 59g and he has dropped to about 55g this week. At 16" he is pretty thin. If he was an adult I wouldn't be concerned about a 5g loss but given his size and he hasn't eaten in 3 weeks should I be thinking about a vet visit or should I wait another week like ya'll suggested?

Here is what you need to do if you have not done already

Get a 6 quart tub, put some aspen bedding in, you can add a 6 inches plastic flower pot saucer too for added security, provide a hot spot of 88 degrees, wait a week, and offer a live hopper mouse.

All those are KEYS to start a new hatchling out of the egg or stubborn young feeders.

The important thing are SECURITY and keep it warm.

In the mean time NO HANDLING.

A vet will not help what you need to do is get the animal to eat on it's own and if all fails even after what I suggested at some point assist feeding will be required.

Thanks I would give that a try but I am not sure were I would get live feeder hoppers. None of the pet stores in my area sell live hoppers and I think even a small adult would be to big. I could try this a f/t and see what happens. Also I am guessing I should put some water in there as well?

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Originally Posted by NewBP

Thanks I would give that a try but I am not sure were I would get live feeder hoppers. None of the pet stores in my area sell live hoppers and I think even a small adult would be to big. I could try this a f/t and see what happens. Also I am guessing I should put some water in there as well?

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Wait, so your baby BP hasn't had any water in the two weeks you've had him?! He should ALWAYS have access to clean, fresh water!! :mad: And keep trying to find live feeders...something that should have been considered beforehand.

No he has water in his current enclosure. (I am not an idiot.) I was just checking that he should have water in the tub given the fact it wasn't list above as some of the things that i should put in it. Although I figure it should have water in it.

Also as far as the live feeders go I have access to adult mice and adult rats. I guess I just figured he would eat the f/t due to what the breeder told me...

Have you checked Craigslist for live feeders or run an ad for live feeders on there?

If you can't find hoppers ask the store what day they get their mice in on. if they are anything like the stores around here when the adults first get shipped in they are pretty much hopper size.

I will try an ad on craiglist and see but I did check it. I will also contact my pet store and give that a try. Thanks for the tips.

I had problems with some of my babys too. I have them in 6 qt tubs from animalplastics, originally used paper towel as substrate, and only one hide. I switched to cypress mulch and added another hide for all the baby tubs and waited a few days to let them settle in to the changes. ALL of the ones who wouldnt eat at all just jumped on the hoppers i threw in, and most of the ones who were already eating switched over to f/t. For mine, it was just a sense of security I guess. I was going to suggest live feeders too, but everybody else beat me to it. Hope it works out for you.

Thanks everyone for the help. I wasn't able to find a place locally that sold live hoppers but I did take the suggestion of going to the pet stores and searching for small adult mice. Well I was able to find one and although it was a little large it wasn't too large. Well I dropped it in the enclosure and after about 20 minutes the mouse was no more. Looks like I will just have to hope I can find small mice in the pet stores for the next several weeks until I can get him on f/t.

Fantasic opinions on feeding. I'm so thankful my little 2 month old balls are good eaters. Who am I kidding, they're down right ravenous eaters. OM NOM NOM!