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  1. #1
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    Question New To the BP World!

    So I’m new to the BP world as the title suggests. I just got my beautiful baby black eyed Lucy on this past Tuesday. Her tank ranges from 90ish on the warm side to high 70s on the cool side. She hasn’t ate since I recieved her. I have presented her with a frozen/thawed and she won’t take it. I also tried presenting her with a live feeder mouse today. She won’t take it either. She is active for about 30mins to an hour the past couple of evenings. I assumed for hunting purposes. Should I be concerned that she isn’t eating. Could the shipping and new environment been enough to throw her off feed? How long should I wait before really being concerned with this situation? Thanks in advance for any information.

  2. #2
    Registered User Reptile$ 4 Life's Avatar
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    Re: New To the BP World!

    Shipping and a new environment are definitely enough to put any snake off food for a while. You should wait a week after shipping before offering food that way they snake has time to acclimate to its new home. Another thing that will help you is to keep handling to a minimum. You shouldn't handle your new snake until it has successfully eaten 3 meals (If you must move the snake to spot clean then it is ok to do so). If you can I would stick to f/t because it is a pain to switch snakes eating live to f/t... still an ongoing battle for me. Now onto some questions...

    What was the previous owner feeding the snake? What size tank do you have and is it sufficiently cluttered? What's the humidity? How did you heat the f/t prey?
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  4. #3
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    Re: New To the BP World!

    She is temporarily in a 10 gallon glass enclosure. She has a larger hide with a medium sized water bowl. She has a UTH and heat lamp. Humidity ranges based on the part of the day. Lowest I have seen is 50. But mostly is 55-65%. The breeder I purchased from said she was on medium feeder mice. Edit: I set the frozen thawed under the heat lamp for a few mins to give it a heat signature for her to detect.
    Last edited by Lividturtle; 06-27-2020 at 10:42 PM.

  5. #4
    BPnet Lifer dakski's Avatar
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    Re: New To the BP World!

    She should have an identical hide on the warm and cool side.

    As mentioned don't handle for now until she's eaten for you 3X. Try blocking off the sides of the tank with cardboard or something similar to make her feel more secure. Feed at night.

    Also, do not offer more than every 5-7 days. If she's refusing, offering more will stress her out more.

    Defrost as I describe below - you want to defrost and then warm - not cook the mouse. The steps are the same for a mouse or rat, however the mouse will fully defrost faster.



    This is my step by step list on defrosting F/T rodents.

    Others may do it differently and that's fine. This how I do it and it works for me.


    STEPS FOR DEFROSTING F/T RODENTS/PREY

    1. Put prey item(s) into appropriate size plastic bag . I use Quart size ziplock bags up to a medium rat. NOTE: Bags are optional. Some people just throw the prey in the water. I like the bags, but you have to squeeze the air out of them.

    2. Fill the container/storage box 3/4 of the way with room temp to slightly warm water. If you have a temp gun (which you should, so if you don't, get one), make sure the water is not hotter than 85-90F, or there about.

    3. Put F/T prey item(s) in water. Cover (optional) and leave for an hour +/-.

    4. After an hour, rotate/flip prey. If in plastic bags, they often will stay on whatever side you put them in on. So if mouse is on left side, turn to right side, etc.

    5. Leave for another hour +/- for a TOTAL of about 2 hours (up to medium sized rat - longer if bigger prey).

    6. Check that prey is defrosted totally through. Squeeze at different sections of the preys body. Should be cool/room temp to touch, but be soft with no cold spots. If hard (except for bone), in abdomen, for example, or cold, put back in water until room temp and soft.

    7. Take prey out of the container/storage box and put aside. THEN FOLLOW STEPS 8-11 OR STEP 12

    8. Fill container with hot water from tap. If using temp gun, water temp should be 110-130F, not more.

    9. Drop prey item into water for 30 seconds +/-. If multiple prey items, do one at a time. You want each item hot when you offer.

    10. Remove (if hot water, with tongs).

    11. Dry as best as you can, and is quickly as you can, with paper towels. I dry with paper towels while I am walking from the bathroom where I defrost to the snake tanks. I kind of wrap the prey item up in them. It's ten feet, so by the time I get to the tanks, the prey is drier, but still warm.

    12. If not using hot water, use a hairdryer to heat rat so it entices snake

    13. Open tank and offer ASAP.

  6. #5
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    Re: New To the BP World!

    I'd also ask how long you waited before you offered? She'll need time to settle in and make sure both hides are small enough for her body to touch all sides when she's inside. Most feeding issues have a direct correlation to husbandry, so go down the check list Dakski offered and minimize any handling. Do you have a thermostat regulating the UTH + clutter in the enclosure?
    /chris

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  7. #6
    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Her tank ranges from 90ish on the warm side to high 70s on the cool side.
    What does that mean exactly from 90ish what is the exact temp on the warm side, and how and where is this temperature taken.
    Last edited by Stewart_Reptiles; 06-28-2020 at 02:59 PM.
    Deborah Stewart


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