Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 3,116

1 members and 3,115 guests
Most users ever online was 6,337, 01-24-2020 at 04:30 AM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,031
Threads: 248,489
Posts: 2,568,442
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, isismomma
Results 1 to 2 of 2
  1. #1
    BPnet Veteran Booper's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-27-2016
    Location
    Somerset, England
    Posts
    426
    Thanks
    409
    Thanked 241 Times in 144 Posts
    Images: 2

    Snake SCARED of mice/rats?

    Hi all,
    So Mars Bar is being our problem snake at the moment... He ate the first time we offered, one large mouse. He had been fed one XL mouse every 14 days, so we decided to feed him 1 large mouse every 7 days for two or three weeks before getting him on large weaned rats. The first time we fed him was at night, he refused it at first so I left it with him for half an hour or so (We feed F/T), came back and it was gone. The past two weeks we have offered in similar ways, but he refuses every single time. Today we offered him a large weaned rat and he also refused.
    Now, I'm not so worried about him at the moment since he is a male, it is going into winter and he weighs 524g which is pretty much what he was when we got him, give or take. The thing is he seems scared of the mice and rats we offer him. Every time we try, he hisses at the prey, puffs up, and then curls into a ball. If we try and tap him gently with it, he recoils sharply. Has anyone else had a problem with their snake being SCARED of prey? What can I do to make him eat, if anything? How much should he loose before we should worry?
    Also hot side is 32 celcius, cold side is 27 celcius, humidity is about 60% and he has two adequate hides that cover him albeit being a bit small.
    Thanks in advance!
    1.1 Humans (Dom & Cait)
    0.1 Normal Ball (Wanda 'Booper') 0.1 Pastel Ball (Peaches)
    1.0 Spider Ball (Cinnamon) 1.0 Caramel Ball (Mars Bar) 1.0 Butter Sucker (Orion)
    0.1 Leopard Gecko (Hecate)
    0.3 Cats (Loki, Meg and Maisy)
    0.0.2 Goldfish (Sushi and Spot)
    0.2 Chickens (Lottie and Tiffany)


  2. #2
    BPnet Senior Member tttaylorrr's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-10-2014
    Location
    Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    5,704
    Thanks
    4,501
    Thanked 5,435 Times in 2,891 Posts
    Images: 22

    Re: Snake SCARED of mice/rats?

    please don't poke him with the feeder. if your male is anything like mine, he has to WANT to eat.

    have you tried the heat it and leave it method since its last success? with Yellow, when he's in his heat-it-and-leave-it mood, i have to heat the head much longer than when anyone else just wants to strike.

    with Yellow, i know within a minute of presenting a prey item how the feeding is going to go: heat-it-and-leave-it method: Yellow BARELY pokes his snoot out, he checks stuff out from within the hide, then retreats and waits for me to leave it; strike method: it's already gone lol.

    i say keep trying to heat it and leave it. in my experience, male winter fasting starts october/november but of course that's just my own experience.

    i trust your temps and judgement, so try to just leave the prey. you might waste a few feeders but he might catch on after a bit.

    keep us posted!!!
    4.4 ball python
    1.0 Albino 0.1 Coral Glow 0.1 Super Cinnamon paradox 1.0 Piebald 0.1 Pastel Enchi Leopard het Piebald 1.0 Coral Glow het Piebald

    1.0 corn snake
    1.0 Hypo

    1.0 crested gecko
    0.1 ????

    0.1 cat
    0.1 Maine Coon mix

    0.1 human ✌︎

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to tttaylorrr For This Useful Post:

    Craiga 01453 (09-04-2017)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1