Getting a BP to eat...

[Fatman]

I have had my BP for about a month now and she hasn't eaten.
Normally I wouldn't be concerned, but when I got her, the previous owner had only been feeding her once a month and I got her right around when he would've fed her. Even then I know that 2 months of not eating really isn't a huge deal, but with only being fed once a month she seems really skinny for being about 3 feet long (have not had a chance to weigh her yet).

The ambient temp on the warm side of her home is about 90 degrees and on the cool side it is about 80 degrees. The under tank heater keeps the bedding on the warm side closer to 95 degrees. The humidity is right around 50-60%, with a humidity hide on the warm side. She has a hide on the warm side and on the cool side, along with cover in between the 2 hides. The photo period is about 12 hrs of light and 12 hrs of dark in the tank. In the room she is in we sometime have the lights on more like 15 hours.

When I got her I basically left her alone for about a week. After that I tried feeding and she wouldn't take the live mouse. I have tried every week after that, I have tried live, F/T, feeding a male mouse, feeding a female mouse, feeding in her home, feeding in a smaller dark tank (w/ UTH), feeding after lights off, pretty much everything I can think of. When I go to feed, she shows no interest whatsoever in the food. The mouse can be an inch away from her face and she won't strike.

So does anyone have some tips on ways to get her to eat?

[dr del]

Hi,

You seem to have tried an awful lot of things in a period that has only 3 feeding days in it.

Have you stopped handling her and left her completely alone aside for essential maintenance?

I would Leave her completely alone for 2 weeks and, at the end of that time offer her a small rat.

Did her previous owner run through how he prepared and offered her the food?

How long do you pre-scent for before offering the prey?


dr del

[Fatman]

I tried feeding her the F/T just over a week after I got her to see if I would get lucky and she would take it. The next week I tried feeding live (male mouse) in a small separate tank. Last week I tried in her tank after lights out (still the male). Then last night I tried a female in a separate tank.
I don't handle her much. I want to get her eating first. Normally I have her out of her tank about once a week for about 15 minutes while I check the bedding and everything in her tank. During that time either me or my fiance handle her a bit.
The previous owner wasn't much help. When I got her from him she was in a smaller tank w/ no UTH, no hides and a white basking lamp that he just kept on all of the time. He basically said that he just threw the mouse in there and left it until she ate it. He did tell me where he bought her mice from so I have been going to the same place getting the same size mice that she is used to.
I'll try leaving her completely alone for a couple weeks to see if that works...

[wasuslitherin]

I heard to put her and the mouse in a pillow case? And maybe try pre-killed.

[JLC]

I heard to put her and the mouse in a pillow case? And maybe try pre-killed.

Hadn't heard that one. If I WERE to try something like that, I would use a dead rodent (either f/t or freshly killed)....I would NEVER trap a snake (especially a reluctant eater) with a live rodent. Doing so would just cause the rodent to panic and become aggressive toward the snake.

At around 800-1000 grams, females often go off feed for reasons we simply can't fathom. (At least ~I~ can't fathom them!) When mine did that, her breeder suggested switching prey items. She'd been eating rats exclusively. I switched to mice and she started eating again. A few months later, she stopped again...I left her alone for a month, then offered a rat and she pounded it.

So...maybe try a small rat instead of a mouse?

How exposed is her enclosure? A glass tank in a brightly lit busy room might be intimidating to her, even if she has hides to retreat to. Maybe cover most of the glass with dark paper to make it more cavelike for her.

[Fatman]

I have though about trying different prey items. The only store around here that sells feeder rats though sells fairly large ones though (their smallest are about 3 or 4 times the size of the mouse). Otherwise I have heard that BPs like gerbils too...
Her tank really isn't very exposed. It's in the corner of my room, the only thing near it are a couple fish tanks that are on the same light cycle as her tank. Really only the front of it is exposed and the room isn't very busy, me and my fiance are the only ones in the room.
When I have tried feeding I have either done it in her cage after lights out or in a smaller separate cage. When I've tried the the separate tank I completely cover all sides and the top and put it in a dark quiet place....

This last time I tried she did show a little bit of interest, but still never struck at the mouse.

[don15681]

the move plus a bigger new place can throw them off feed for a while. when I move some of my snakes to a larger tub in the same room, some do fine and some go off feed for months.

Don't handle at all. when you do maintaince put your snake in another container.

give her a visual look over for mites ect...

if you have a gram scale, you can keep track of her weight, if she loses very little, most likely just off feed.

if she's keeps dropping in weight, a trip to a good vet might be something to consider.

if you switch the rodent type, be prepare to feed her that type. gerbils are costly to be feeders.

next time you feed her, leave the mouse in for a longer time period like the last person did, some snakes eat fast and some take time being with the rodent. don't leave her alone with a live rodent and don't be moving around when trying to feed her. hope this helps you, don

[sarahlovesmiike]

Lots of females go off feed this time of year for breeding season. Mine went off pretty early, at the beginning of the month. If she's mature enough, that might be it. I'd switch to a tub, leave her alone for a couple weeks, and see what happens. That's what I had to do and she went back on feed, in March, after a ten month fast after a week of being in a tub.

[Fatman]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. She finally ate last night. I'm hoping that it means that she'll eat regularly, but we'll have to see. I ended up feeding her the mouse after lights off in her tank and left it in there all night. Don't worry I left her infrared basking light so I could see and was up all night anyways, so she didn't get hurt by the mouse.

[rj1204]

My bee was the same way. I put an extra hide in and a few pieces of newspaper, not crumpled but roughened up for him to slide under like tunnels. It was a "cluttered" look but he loves it. He has been eating every week for me (4 times now) and I see him slithering around his tub at night. Before, he would stay in his hide all day/night and was definetely not comfortable.