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  1. #1
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    10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Hello everyone, I’m Julio and about 6 weeks ago I got this 10 month old male Piebald BP. He arrived weighing 320 grams and feeding on thawed hopper rats. His enclosure is an Animal Plastics 48 X 24 X 12” sliding glass cage. He has Aspen bedding for substrate, branches, logs, plastic vines, and two hides (One on the hot side and one on the cool side.) I have a strip of heat tape underneath the cage right where his hot hide is to proved belly heat. Temps inside the cage are around 80 degrees and his belly heat basking spot is at 87 degrees. He also has a water dish and he drinks water regularly. Humidity is always between 55-67%, I mist with warm water every other day to maintain moisture. He has not shed since he got here either. He did poop the first day so I don’t think he is blocked and he was eating regularly with breeder.


    I have been offering thawed hopper mice since I haven’t found “hopper rats” anywhere and not even sure if those exist! hahaha. I thaw out at room temp then heat the mouse in a bag in hit water. He has not even tried to strike the mice once, I have tried dangling the mice infront of him and also tried placing the mouse at the entrance of his hide, no luck so far. He remains asleep during the day in one of his hides, and emerges around 7-8 PM daily and moves around his enclosure, climbing his branches and alternating between hides.


    He is friendly and lets me handle him. but I only do so every 3-4 days for a few minutes at a time to prevent stressing him out. Here are some things I know are not optimal regarding my husbandry.


    -Temps are low on the hot side of the cage. I ordered a radiant heat panel to install inside the cage and help bump up the temp to 88 degrees.


    -More clutter in the cage. I also ordered more plastic plants to help him feel more secure in his enclosure.


    I have read a bunch of posts, watched videos, and talked to other BP owners, but would appreciate any other tips from you seasoned owners. Thanks in advance!

  2. #2
    BPnet Royalty Zincubus's Avatar
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    10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    I’ve only just quickly skimmed through your post so apologies if I’ve misunderstood anything but off the top of my head it looks as though you’re doing an awful lot very well and maybe it just needs a little fine tuning here and there .

    A few quick thoughts are ...

    The hot spot should be nearer 90 to 92F but no higher imho ...

    I’d add some more ‘clutter’ to help it feel ‘even more’ secure .. so more branches and bark pieces ( found in local parks / woodland) ..

    I’d suggest you STOP all handling until it’s had about three consecutive feeds .

    I’d also consider the hairdryer method of feeding instead of thawing with hot water .. I have two Royals that won’t eat if I thaw in hot water ... I presume that the dipping simply washes off the rat odours but that’s just my theory as they readily accept hairdryer warmed rats everytime .

    I’ll send you details of the hairdryer method by PM


    Oh and please provide a photo or two of your setup plus details of how you are heating the viv and where the heat sources are placed ..presumably you are using a thermostat to regulate the heat

    Good luck ..


    Edit

    Try the free Tapatalk app for easy photo uploading

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    Last edited by Zincubus; 06-04-2020 at 02:51 AM.




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  4. #3
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    Welcome to BPnet. You've only had him for 6 weeks, don't stress. He needed two weeks or more to settle in. If your husbandery is right the rest will come. Only offer the prey once a week or wait two weeks since the last offering. Why wait two weeks? One so the snake can get use to the new home an calm done. Two, so he gets hungry (easier to get him to eat).

    Read this it's a good guide:
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...=feeding+guide

    An read this (it will help):
    https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101

    Good Luck!

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  6. #4
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    Re: 10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Thanks for the tips! I will stop the handling, and I will also add in some more stuff this week to help him hide better and feel more comfortable. I have also tried heating up the mice with a heat lamp, but maybe that’s not a great idea, so I’ll give that hair dryer method a try for sure! I have the heat tape cranked up to the max that the thermostat will allow at 104 degrees, but these plastic cages really impeed the heat from fully coming thru, so eventhough I have it set so high, the surface of the basking spot only gets up to 87 degrees. Hopefully the radiant heat panel does the trick. Since I’m new I sadly don’t have permission to post pictures yet. I will as soon as I am allowed to post attatchments. (:

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    Re: 10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Thanks! I think I’ve been a lil too anxious to feed, so I’ll wait a bit longer in between attempts, I’ve been trying every 5 days or so, I’ll give it two weeks. I will also read up on that!

  9. #6
    BPnet Royalty Zincubus's Avatar
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    Re: 10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Quote Originally Posted by Jlok619 View Post
    Thanks for the tips! I will stop the handling, and I will also add in some more stuff this week to help him hide better and feel more comfortable. I have also tried heating up the mice with a heat lamp, but maybe that’s not a great idea, so I’ll give that hair dryer method a try for sure! I have the heat tape cranked up to the max that the thermostat will allow at 104 degrees, but these plastic cages really impeed the heat from fully coming thru, so eventhough I have it set so high, the surface of the basking spot only gets up to 87 degrees. Hopefully the radiant heat panel does the trick. Since I’m new I sadly don’t have permission to post pictures yet. I will as soon as I am allowed to post attatchments. (:
    Sounds hopeful .....

    They are nocturnal so more lively in the evening and that’s the time to feed them of course .. mine will only strike from under their hides where they feel secure and they only strike if it’s dim / low light .
    As soon as the main lights come on they disappear out of sight .

    Anyways all the details are in that PM I sent you ..

    Oh and that hot spot is too low at 87F I think .. . maybe look into boosting that temp up some how .

    I know nothing about heat strips sadly but maybe there’s a trick someone knows like having the strip on tinfoil or something.,

    Don’t use that suggestion as I know ZERO about heat strips - just thinking outside the box


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro




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  11. #7
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    Re: 10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Quote Originally Posted by Jlok619 View Post
    I got this 10 month old male Piebald BP. He arrived weighing 320 grams and feeding on thawed hopper rats.

    I have been offering thawed hopper mice since I haven’t found “hopper rats” anywhere and not even sure if those exist! hahaha. I thaw out at room temp then heat the mouse in a bag in hit water.
    Hello,

    I have 2 BP's about that size myself, I see perfect prey says Hopper mice are 7-12g size. I was feeding mine Rat Pups, at about 27-30g each,

    and they are moving up to weaned rats next feeding that are 30+ grams each, I'll feed them the smaller ones first.

    So maybe the prey is too small is why its refusing? Also I thaw mine in the refrigerator while I'm at work, then give them 30 minutes at room temp, hit them

    with a hair dryer to warm and Boom, they aggressively grab and eat every time.

    Not saying this will definitely work with yours, just some more info to think about.

    Good luck
    Last edited by Gocntry; 06-04-2020 at 07:36 AM. Reason: spelling

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    Re: 10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Maybe someone already covered this and I just missed it, but mice and rats have two completely different smells. In my experience, feeding a prey item that is unfamiliar to the snake is usually a tough sell.

    An example here is an Orange Dream girl I received in a trade a few months ago. For the first month, I tried scenting rat pups for her, since I knew she had been eating mice. This didn’t work, and she is still very young, so of course I had to put a mouse colony together just for her (I breed my own rodents). She hasn’t missed a meal since!

    TL;DR Try rat pups, because mice smell funny.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  15. #9
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    Re: 10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Quote Originally Posted by MusicCityMack View Post
    Maybe someone already covered this and I just missed it, but mice and rats have two completely different smells. In my experience, feeding a prey item that is unfamiliar to the snake is usually a tough sell.

    An example here is an Orange Dream girl I received in a trade a few months ago. For the first month, I tried scenting rat pups for her, since I knew she had been eating mice. This didn’t work, and she is still very young, so of course I had to put a mouse colony together just for her (I breed my own rodents). She hasn’t missed a meal since!

    TL;DR Try rat pups, because mice smell funny.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Very good points to mention !

    I feed my lot at the same time so there’s a tray full of different sized thawing mice , chicks and ( occasionally a rat ) .

    It’s funny to see the reactions when one gets a mouse that’s been touching a chick for a few hours


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro




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    Re: 10 month old Piebald male refusing to eat

    Quote Originally Posted by Zincubus View Post
    Very good points to mention !

    I feed my lot at the same time so there’s a tray full of different sized thawing mice , chicks and ( occasionally a rat ) .

    It’s funny to see the reactions when one gets a mouse that’s been touching a chick for a few hours


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
    Thanks!

    I haven’t used chicks yet, since the vast majority of my collection will eat rats. The lone exception is the OD mouser I mentioned. My biggest struggle at the moment is trying to get my Retic to eat f/t, since I don’t want to be bringing in live rabbits in about a year. So far, she won’t even take a fresh killed


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