An easily discouraged eater

[RedRabbit]

Hi guys! Since this just keeps happening over the past 2-3 months, and is starting to drive me nuts, I figured I'd ask to see if anyone has any tips.

So Iggy, my 7-month-old male BP, keeps attempting to swallow his f/t rat sideways. When this inevitably fails, usually after a prolonged wrestling match with the dead rat, he will eventually give up, let go of the rat, and just retreat back into his hide. I have tried the following things, all with no particular success:

- The usual optimization of feeding conditions - evening/night, dim lighting, minimal disturbance before and after, etc.

- Focusing the blow-dryer heat on the head of the rat. I do this with all feedings anyway, but just thought I'd specify. I've tried both my usual 10-second blast of heat, and prolonging it to 15 seconds to make the head an extra-obvious heat target.

- Presenting the rat towards him headfirst, holding it in the tongs in a variety of ways (by the tail, by a rear paw, by the scruff of the neck, around the middle). Where he finally grabs and wraps it varies regardless, and most of the time, he bites it mid-body and then just commits to that.

- Re-heating and re-offering the rat after the first time he gives up on it. Sometimes he'll even strike and wrap it again. However, the end result is the same.

- Leaving the rat in his enclosure with him, even after he's given up and left it. I feed in the evening, and come the next morning, the rat is still there, untouched, and needs to be tossed.

- Sizing down the rat. I am now giving him rat fuzzies that are slightly too small for his size, in the rather desperate hope that the rat will fold over enough that he can swallow it even sideways. He still can't, and still gives up on it.

- And most recently, in a fit of frustration tonight after this happened again with the 1st and 2nd offer attempts, I just opened the top of his cave hide and chucked the rat in there with him, in close proximity, before closing the hide again. I'm planning to wait several hours, until whenever I decide to go to bed, to see if he decides to eat it at his leisure after spending some quality time with it right next to him.

I wouldn't mind this so much if he did eat the rat eventually. The problem is the "giving up" part. He's still getting meals down about every couple of weeks when he feels like being more persistent, or gets lucky with his strike aim, but he really should be getting more than this, considering that he's young and still growing. Also, the fact that he's grabbing the rat readily, and making a considerable effort to swallow it, indicates that he HAS the appetite and WANTS to eat.

Is there anything else I can try, to help him out? Is he going to get better at figuring this out eventually? Come to think of it, why did he start doing this in the first place, when he used to be able to find the head and swallow headfirst just fine back when he was a 3-month-old?

[Bogertophis]

Sounds like "teenage rebellion"... I have known a snake or two that always want the end NOT presented by tongs... And while none of my current snakes
do what yours is doing, I've seen some like that...it's SO frustrating! Wish I knew what the answer is, but I don't. Just have to wait for them to grow out of it, or
not. Some snakes really tax our patience, don't they?

[WhompingWillow]

That would be frustrating, and it sounds like you are doing everything right. The good thing is that he is still eating and shows the desire to do so, even if he is not eating as often as would be ideal.

I normally use a hairdryer on the rats' heads as well, but for our problem feeder I ended up running the head under very hot water and then drying off. This seemed to warm the head all the way through very quickly to get a better heat signature. She had been refusing to eat on her own but ate last weekend with this method, so hopefully I can repeat it tonight.

Another thought is whether he may eat if you leave the rat in his cage from the start - don't offer on tongs and don't wait until he gives up before leaving it. Maybe this would give him a greater sense of control in approaching the rat and striking correctly?

Hopefully he grows out of it and figures out how to consistently turn the rat around to be head first.

[Zincubus]

Hi guys! Since this just keeps happening over the past 2-3 months, and is starting to drive me nuts, I figured I'd ask to see if anyone has any tips.

So Iggy, my 7-month-old male BP, keeps attempting to swallow his f/t rat sideways. When this inevitably fails, usually after a prolonged wrestling match with the dead rat, he will eventually give up, let go of the rat, and just retreat back into his hide. I have tried the following things, all with no particular success:

- The usual optimization of feeding conditions - evening/night, dim lighting, minimal disturbance before and after, etc.

- Focusing the blow-dryer heat on the head of the rat. I do this with all feedings anyway, but just thought I'd specify. I've tried both my usual 10-second blast of heat, and prolonging it to 15 seconds to make the head an extra-obvious heat target.

- Presenting the rat towards him headfirst, holding it in the tongs in a variety of ways (by the tail, by a rear paw, by the scruff of the neck, around the middle). Where he finally grabs and wraps it varies regardless, and most of the time, he bites it mid-body and then just commits to that.

- Re-heating and re-offering the rat after the first time he gives up on it. Sometimes he'll even strike and wrap it again. However, the end result is the same.

- Leaving the rat in his enclosure with him, even after he's given up and left it. I feed in the evening, and come the next morning, the rat is still there, untouched, and needs to be tossed.

- Sizing down the rat. I am now giving him rat fuzzies that are slightly too small for his size, in the rather desperate hope that the rat will fold over enough that he can swallow it even sideways. He still can't, and still gives up on it.

- And most recently, in a fit of frustration tonight after this happened again with the 1st and 2nd offer attempts, I just opened the top of his cave hide and chucked the rat in there with him, in close proximity, before closing the hide again. I'm planning to wait several hours, until whenever I decide to go to bed, to see if he decides to eat it at his leisure after spending some quality time with it right next to him.

I wouldn't mind this so much if he did eat the rat eventually. The problem is the "giving up" part. He's still getting meals down about every couple of weeks when he feels like being more persistent, or gets lucky with his strike aim, but he really should be getting more than this, considering that he's young and still growing. Also, the fact that he's grabbing the rat readily, and making a considerable effort to swallow it, indicates that he HAS the appetite and WANTS to eat.

Is there anything else I can try, to help him out? Is he going to get better at figuring this out eventually? Come to think of it, why did he start doing this in the first place, when he used to be able to find the head and swallow headfirst just fine back when he was a 3-month-old?

One thing worth trying is dipping the rat’s head in very hot water for 5 seconds or so then dry with kitchen roll and offer instantly.. the head will feel very warm but it maybe just work .. maybe it just needs a real hot heat signal ??


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[reptilemom25]

I had this problem early on with Astrid. I found that taking it away from her once she loosened her coils to swallow and re orienting it correctly did the trick. I know a lot of people wouldn't suggest it, but it worked for me. She has since figured out how to fix it herself and will let go and grab the head if she misses it when striking.

[RedRabbit]

Apologies for the belated reply, but thank you to everyone who responded, for the tips as well as the reassurances. I definitely posted when my frustration level was at a peak (and it probably showed, haha), but I recognize that there's no reason to freak out or anything, since Iggy's still gaining weight at a steady rate, shedding well, and just overall behaving normally. I think next time I will try the trick of giving the rat's head a brief dip in hot water before offering. Not sure if he'd tolerate me reaching in to re-orient the rat for him without getting scared off, but I'm certainly not averse to trying that either, if it comes down to it.

Teenage rebellion, indeed!

[RedRabbit]

Well, another week and another failure, so I guess it's time to air out my frustrations and regroup again, lol. This time Iggy actually grabbed the rat by the head when he wrapped it (promising!), and then pulled it back into his hide with him after he uncoiled (also promising!). Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends, because I then found him just using the rat as a pillow when I checked on him inside his hide a few hours later. Further offers were unsuccessful, including attempts with the hot water dip.

On the plus side, when I plopped him on the scale earlier this week, he had still gained a small amount of weight - 205g compared to 194g from one month ago - so that's something, at least.

[Phantom1987]

Maybe try feeding a smaller rat. Something is better then nothing

[RedRabbit]

Maybe try feeding a smaller rat. Something is better then nothing

Indeed, I did try that. (I know my original bullet point list was pretty painfully long, lol; that one was sandwiched somewhere in the middle of the list.) I had the same thought as you about something being better than nothing, but he's been hit-or-miss even with the too-small rats. With that said, he did eat one tonight, hooray!