Feeling Like a Failure (Feeding)

[Bogertophis]

... I’m getting pretty sad because she was such a breeze when I first got her. Now she’s really stressing me out ...

I sympathize (been there, done that) but it just goes with the territory when keeping BPs. Pity they don't come with a crystal ball to help you decide whether or not an
offer of alternative prey will work, or if this is only due to the seasonal changes & a new kind of prey will only mess up the established feeding they've already managed.

[alittleFREE]

I sympathize (been there, done that) but it just goes with the territory when keeping BPs. Pity they don't come with a crystal ball to help you decide whether or not an
offer of alternative prey will work, or if this is only due to the seasonal changes & a new kind of prey will only mess up the established feeding they've already managed.

Exactly. I’m willing to try whatever - but I don’t want to do something that would mess up her established habits and routine without due cause.


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[pretends2bnormal]

I probably wouldn't go for gerbils as a feeder, not easy to get for F/T as far as I'm aware and live would mean pet-prices unless you know a breeder personally. I did get chicks for variety, but both my big enough BPs wouldnt go for it, even while established feeders. It may be something yours will grab, but no way to know without trying.

I have had luck switching 2 determined live feeding BPs by thawing the rat dry, by the cage, in a small pile of used gerbil bedding. As much as you'd get a weird look, I imagine a pet store wouldn't mind letting you have some of it if you decided to try that. Especially if you explain you're trying the smell to get a picky BP to eat. After it is thawed, I just use the hairdryer to heat for 60 seconds or so until I see a nose poking out of a hide and offer. (1 adult, and 1 hatchling who had missed 3 weeks of meals and only weighed 60 grams... that was super stressful since it was her first 3 weeks with me. She has now eaten 3 times for me.)

(Both times I've used this method I've been able to immediately do non-scented the following week with even more appetite than before, even compared to the live feeders)

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[Bogertophis]

Exactly. I’m willing to try whatever - but I don’t want to do something that would mess up her established habits and routine without due cause.


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Personally I'd probably wait her out...I know how hard it is not to worry, but BPs will be BPs. Give it time, try not to worry...it's what they do. (I think it mostly
drives us crazy because they don't all do the same thing...)

[pretends2bnormal]

Personally I'd probably wait her out...I know how hard it is not to worry, but BPs will be BPs. Give it time, try not to worry...it's what they do. (I think it mostly
drives us crazy because they don't all do the same thing...)

I second this one. You've got a couple hundred grams of weight on your BP, and if she was taking frozen, she will eventually do so again. (Funny enough, I just ended a fast from a young Kenyan sand boa. Weighed 36 grams every week for the last 6 weeks but had refused for seemingly no reason after eating fine for 6 months before)

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[Zincubus]

I probably wouldn't go for gerbils as a feeder, not easy to get for F/T as far as I'm aware and live would mean pet-prices unless you know a breeder personally. I did get chicks for variety, but both my big enough BPs wouldnt go for it, even while established feeders. It may be something yours will grab, but no way to know without trying.

I have had luck switching 2 determined live feeding BPs by thawing the rat dry, by the cage, in a small pile of used gerbil bedding. As much as you'd get a weird look, I imagine a pet store wouldn't mind letting you have some of it if you decided to try that. Especially if you explain you're trying the smell to get a picky BP to eat. After it is thawed, I just use the hairdryer to heat for 60 seconds or so until I see a nose poking out of a hide and offer. (1 adult, and 1 hatchling who had missed 3 weeks of meals and only weighed 60 grams... that was super stressful since it was her first 3 weeks with me. She has now eaten 3 times for me.)

(Both times I've used this method I've been able to immediately do non-scented the following week with even more appetite than before, even compared to the live feeders)

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You've got the hairdryer method off to a tee

I do exactly what you do with incredible success - it just works so well especially with Royals / Balls .

I feed evenings in low/dim light , heat with hairdryer ( right next to their vivs ) then as you do ... wait until I see a nose at the entrance and BOOM


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[zina10]

Sometimes using the blow dryer alone doesn't raise the internal temp of the rodent enough, just transporting it to the cage they loose heat rapidly, esp. if the ambient in your room is getting cooler during winter.

Try warming it up in hot water (AFTER its thawed) then dry off some with paper towel, offer while toasty warm.

Having the prey slightly wet doesn't hurt at all, i've fed F/T this way for many years.

I thaw them in cold water for a few hours, usually take them out mid day, put them in a bucket of cold water, then leave them until evening. After that I drain the cold water and add hot water, not boiling hot mind you, just like you would drink a tea I suppose? Wait 10 minutes, drain the water and add hot water again, this time a tad hotter, but not burning hot. Wait 10 minutes, remove the rodent, roll it in some paper towels, carry it to the cage. By then its dried off some but the heat is preserved. Dangle!

With small/medium rats I do this cycle of drain/add hot water 3 times.

With rat pups/weaned rats twice is sufficient.

Do NOT add water that is boiling hot, or the rats might pop..the water needs to be hot, but not so much that it is uncomfortable to your hands. The rats should feel toasty warm through and through when you take them out.

I've had some BP's that take even luke warm food or not evenly heated throughout while they are in their "ravenous" phase. As they slow down, they get pickier and having the rodent prepared right (warm throughout) becomes more important, or I get refusals.

You can still hit them with the hair dryer for a few seconds if you want, but they should be warm enough as is.

Can't hurt to try

If you are keeping in a glass tank, try to insulate it, sides and back and part of the top. Glass tanks are horrible for keeping ambient heat and humidity. You could get some sheets of styrofoam and attach them on the outside of the tank. You could first attach some black construction paper on the outside of the tank, to provide better privacy. Glass tanks are SO exposed. You want to make the entire tank feel like a giant hide, and then have smaller hides within that hide.

Its typical that some BP's go through phases of being simply ravenous and not as picky, and then slowing down enough to either refuse or become very picky with what they eat. Before you go to live, try some other methods of F/T, esp. hotter meals and/or mice instead of rats.

[alittleFREE]

Thanks for the above suggestions.

I’ll probably try one more feed using my regular method, since it was successful during the first two months I had her, when she was taking meals without hesitation. Just to give her some time to make sure it’s not a natural “stop stuffing me with food, I’m a snake” sort of fast. However, If she doesn’t take next Sunday, that will make it her 4th refusal. So after that point I’ll start trying alternative measures, starting with simple stuff like how I’m thawing/presenting, and graduating to more drastic changes like prey type, if she still won’t eat after several weeks of those attempts.

I second this one. You've got a couple hundred grams of weight on your BP, and if she was taking frozen, she will eventually do so again. (Funny enough, I just ended a fast from a young Kenyan sand boa. Weighed 36 grams every week for the last 6 weeks but had refused for seemingly no reason after eating fine for 6 months before)

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Yeah, I weighed her this morning, and she was 362 grams. Which is the exact same weight that I got from her last week. On her last empty weigh-in, taken the day before her last successful feed on September 30th, she was 342 grams. So she’s definitely not dropping weight or anything.

Naturally, because I mentioned that she had only been on the cool side, she decides to go over to the warm side hide today. She still hasn’t pooped out her September 30th meal so part of me wonders if she just needs to get that out of her system before she’s ready for another.




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[pretends2bnormal]

Thanks for the above suggestions.

I’ll probably try one more feed using my regular method, since it was successful during the first two months I had her, when she was taking meals without hesitation. Just to give her some time to make sure it’s not a natural “stop stuffing me with food, I’m a snake” sort of fast. However, If she doesn’t take next Sunday, that will make it her 4th refusal. So after that point I’ll start trying alternative measures, starting with simple stuff like how I’m thawing/presenting, and graduating to more drastic changes like prey type, if she still won’t eat after several weeks of those attempts.



Yeah, I weighed her this morning, and she was 362 grams. Which is the exact same weight that I got from her last week. On her last empty weigh-in, taken the day before her last successful feed on September 30th, she was 342 grams. So she’s definitely not dropping weight or anything.

Naturally, because I mentioned that she had only been on the cool side, she decides to go over to the warm side hide today. She still hasn’t pooped out her September 30th meal so part of me wonders if she just needs to get that out of her system before she’s ready for another.




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When my boy Vega was that size he never quit eating, but he did pretty much go over to at the most frequent monthly poops. So 3 weeks without a poop isn't really worrisome unless you can see major "sausage-butt" for more than a week or two (maybe more? Someone with more experience would need to chime in there. I wouldn't be worried until after that at least). He also spent a lot of time on the cool side when not digesting and my adult male does as well outside of shed or a recent meal. Might just be a personal preference of hers.

I can't recall if you've said your method already, but if you usually thaw in water, it wouldn't hurt to thaw in water with the rat in a ziploc baggy and see if a stronger smell would help. That kind of minor change to the process isn't going to make her less likely to eat, so may be worth trying for #4. I agree on leaving off changing how you offer it (tongs/drop-feed) and the type of feeder for another meal or two. I'd run through the various thawing and offer methods before swapping prey items.

You're doing everything you can, so keep your chin up. She'll get back eating for you soon, I'm sure.

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[alittleFREE]

When my boy Vega was that size he never quit eating, but he did pretty much go over to at the most frequent monthly poops. So 3 weeks without a poop isn't really worrisome unless you can see major "sausage-butt" for more than a week or two (maybe more? Someone with more experience would need to chime in there. I wouldn't be worried until after that at least). He also spent a lot of time on the cool side when not digesting and my adult male does as well outside of shed or a recent meal. Might just be a personal preference of hers.

I can't recall if you've said your method already, but if you usually thaw in water, it wouldn't hurt to thaw in water with the rat in a ziploc baggy and see if a stronger smell would help. That kind of minor change to the process isn't going to make her less likely to eat, so may be worth trying for #4. I agree on leaving off changing how you offer it (tongs/drop-feed) and the type of feeder for another meal or two. I'd run through the various thawing and offer methods before swapping prey items.

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She was going every 2 weeks previously, so maybe she’s just switching over to less frequent defecation. Hard to know because she hasn’t had a 2nd meal to help push the first one out lol.

I thaw in a ziploc bag in warm (just warm enough to register as warm to the touch, but not hot) water, then blast with the hair dryer.

When I only had my Cal King, I would just leave the rat on the counter for a few hours and she would literally eat it at room temp. Didn’t have to blast it with heat or anything. That didn’t work for Syd (my BP), though, so I started doing both of their meals at the same time in the baggies in water to simplify feeding process and that seemed to be the ticket. Until now, anyway.




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