Feeding Woes

[indygunnerguy]

Hey all. It's been 4 weeks as of yesterday, since I've switched to rat pups from mice, and still no go. Yesterday was the closest I came to getting him to eat. I thought it on top of the enclosure for about 3 hours. During that time, he became excited and was moving around and smelling it from underneath. When dark came, I hit it with the hair dryer and got it to temp. As usual, he would not take it from the tongs. I said it in the customary spot where he had eaten before so he would know that it was food hopefully.
he expressed quite a bit of interest by coming out and smelling it and even laying on top of the rat pup for a couple of hours. I thought he may have been waiting for me to go to bed so I did. I got up this morning and it was still there so I took it out and threw it away.
His eyes are not milky so I do not think he is going into shed. I am not sure what else to do, as someone has suggested putting a frozen mouse in with the rats to hopefully mingle their scents together. I did that, and I thought that's why he was getting more excited about his meal yesterday. But alas, here we are the next day and he still has not eaten.
At what point should I become concerned? My temps have been good, as well as my humidity. I'm just not sure what is going on. Any help would be fantastic. I am about to give in and buy mice again and waste all these rats that I bought....ugh.

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[walzon1]

Do you try feeding live?

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[Bogertophis]

Have you tried chain feeding? (feed a small mouse first, then while he's still pumped up, a small rat pup; just make sure the 2 combined are not too big of a
meal.) Some snakes will ACCEPT the second rodent but BPs can be difficult -understatement - so what I've done is be as still as possible but be RIGHT there
with the rat pup on tongs & with subtlety, introduce it into the snake's still-open mouth, rat nose to mouse tush. If you are too pushy or obvious, your BP will
probably hide his head or spit it out, but if you can manage "sneaky", some keep swallowing & learn to accept the new taste as edible this way.

[indygunnerguy]

Do you try feeding live?

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Not yet, but it has crossed my mind

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[indygunnerguy]

Have you tried chain feeding? (feed a small mouse first, then while he's still pumped up, a small rat pup; just make sure the 2 combined are not too big of a
meal.) Some snakes will ACCEPT the second rodent but BPs can be difficult -understatement - so what I've done is be as still as possible but be RIGHT there
with the rat pup on tongs & with subtlety, introduce it into the snake's still-open mouth, rat nose to mouse tush. If you are too pushy or obvious, your BP will
probably hide his head or spit it out, but if you can manage "sneaky", some keep swallowing & learn to accept the new taste as edible this way.

Interesting concept!

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[Valyndris]

rat nose to mouse tush

lol the way you described that made me laugh, I guess it is the best way to describe it though.

[walzon1]

Not yet, but it has crossed my mind

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Rat pups are too small to do damage. You could ask for mice litter to put in for smell. Once consistent feeding you can try switching back to f/t

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