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Thread: BP not eating

  1. #1
    Registered User Mkelleher's Avatar
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    BP not eating

    My 1 year old female (890g) started eating less this winter. was giving her 1 small to medium rat once a week, then she started refusing and switched to every 2 weeks and it was fine, so far everything normal. The last time I fed her was February 21st, I have tried to feed her a 3 or 4 times over the past month and she's not even interested. I have fed her F/T since she was a month old. Shes in a bioactive environment with the temps and humidity perfect at all times, I have the mist king and all the heating and lighting on timers. She shed a perfect shed about 3 weeks ago. She displays all the signs of a happy healthy BP, so I'm not super concerned. But is it normal for a 1 year old female to go a month without even being interested in eating? Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

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    No, it's not uncommon for BPs to go on food strikes.

    I don't mean to second guess you, but we hear "temps are perfect" all the time and often they are actually off and possibly the reason the snake isn't eating.

    What are your temps?
    How are you heating the enclosure?
    Are your heat sources regulated by a thermostat?
    How are you measuring temps?

    Answering these questions will help us help you and your snake.

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  4. #3
    Registered User Mkelleher's Avatar
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    Re: BP not eating

    I have the cool side at 80-85, and the warm side at 92-96. I have a 100w day lamp and 100w night lamp suspended above the tank on the warm side, and a 60w heat emitter suspended above the cool side. Then I have a heat pad on the side of the tank on the warm side. Both of her hides are cork wood, and she spends most of the day in her corkwood tube that she LOVES. At night she slithers around a little bit, hangs out on the tree, destroys all her plants ya know normal stuff lol. I have thermometers and hydrometers on both sides of the tank and I check with a temp gun at least once a day. I have the mistking set to go off for 15 sec every 2.5 hours and the humidity stays right around 60%. When I notice that shes going I to shed I'll up it to 20 sec every 2 hours and it stays at around 70%.

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    Ok, I'm glad I asked.

    92-96 is actually way too hot. You want to lower that to 88-89. You'll then want to get the cool side down to closer to 80 to create a temp gradient.

    You didn't mention if you're heat sources are regulated by a thermostat??? It's literally the most important piece of equipment you can have for keeping snakes.

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    Registered User Mkelleher's Avatar
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    Re: BP not eating

    No, I don't. But i just ordered a few. I must have misunderstood, I thought that monitoring it with thermometers and a temp gun was sufficient. 96 is the highest I've seen it get it is usually around 92-94, and same with the cool side 85 is the highest I've seen it get.

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    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    It's a mix of a few things IMO

    Temps way off and fluctuating too much. Temps should be stable 78/80 and 86/88.

    Overfeeding a 800+ grams does not need medium rats, smaller preys are better overall and will allow you to have an animal eating with more consistency.

    The wall
    Deborah Stewart


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    Re: BP not eating

    Quote Originally Posted by Stewart_Reptiles View Post
    It's a mix of a few things IMO

    Temps way off and fluctuating too much. Temps should be stable 78/80 and 86/88.

    Overfeeding a 800+ grams does not need medium rats, smaller preys are better overall and will allow you to have an animal eating with more consistency.

    The wall
    Good catch, I didn't pick up on that.

    Feeding smaller, appropriately sized meals will also limit food strikes. I feed all my snakes a somewhat conservative diet, especially once they're over a year old.
    This method keeps them in healthy body conditions and I almost never get refusals or food strikes anymore.

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    Re: BP not eating

    Here I thought I was doing great, but I dont have a key piece of equipment :/

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    Registered User Mkelleher's Avatar
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    Re: BP not eating

    I was thinking that I should go smaller..

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    Registered User Mkelleher's Avatar
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    Re: BP not eating

    Thank you for the input!!! Will make the needed changes. I feel so bad that I've had it too hot in there.

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