Young BP hasn’t eaten in a month help!!!

[mkspain]

I’ve had Pluto for a little over a year now and for the first time ever, he suddenly stopped eating. For reference, Pluto is a male BP that is nearing 3 feet long. I’m starting to get worried as nothing is working. He will acknowledge that the mouse is there and look at it for a minute or so but then avoid it for the rest of the night. It’s really starting to worry me because he is so young. Any advice is appreciated!

Things ive tried:
-upgraded feeding tank size (i was planning on upgrading it soon anyways)
-used one size larger mouse
-bumped up temp and humidity in cage
-rubbed mouse against different items to gain a scent

Cage/other info:

-36x18x12 cage
-warm side temp is usually 87-91, but i’ve bumped it to 93-97 for the past few days
-cool side temp is usually 77-80, but it’s risen to 78-82 for the past few days
- humidity has been adjusted from 45-65% to 55-80% IMPORTANT: He had a bad shed before he started not eating and i realized his humidity was much lower than i thought so i fixed it but it’s been about two weeks since then
-heat pad under his warm side hide
-he has lost a little weight since eating but it it hasn’t been drastic (502 to 495g over the month)

Things i’d rather not try but will if it gets desperate:
-live feeding
-force feeding

Thanks for helping me out!!!

[Toad37]

If it's only been a month then there's no need to stress at all especially since it's winter time and bps naturally fast during this season. Your humidity is fine but I would bump that hot spot back down where it was. 97 is pretty hot for a bp and that will only stress him out more and cause him to not eat. And I assume you have his heat mad hooked up to a thermostat?!

The 7 grams he lost is also not a big deal because it was probably just waste weight (urate or poop). Give him another month or even two until it starts to warm back up and he'll start to eat again.

I advise against live feeding but that's just my personal choice and everyone has their own opinion but for the love of the gods do not force feed that animal! "Force" (assist) feeding should only be used on baby animals that have never taken a meal, not on one who has already eaten and is just on a fast. He'll be fine try not to stress out about it.

[jmcrook]

Stop using a feeding tank too. Zero benefits with doing so


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[Bogertophis]

As already mentioned, 93-97* is TOO hot, dial it back to where it was, 91* max.

At his age (@ 3' long, he's at least a few years old) it's very normal for BPs to eat less or fast this time of year. Don't panic or take drastic measures. Welcome to BPs...

And moving a snake into another cage to eat can actually make them too nervous to eat, so quit doing that. Fed them where they live, at night.

Offering too often can make things worse (less likely to eat) so don't offer more than once every week or preferably two weeks, and WAIT UNTIL he's peeking out of his hide at night...remember BPs are ambush-predators, they feel more secure when they can pounce on unsuspecting prey going past them, so do your best to re-create that scenario...ok?

If you're worried about him swallowing some substrate when he eats, put down something as a "plate"- it can be a cardboard box lid, or plastic. But feed only in his home.

[mkspain]

Thanks for all the advice! i’m gonna start feeding him from his regular cage and bump the temp down.

and yes i do have the heat mad hooked up to a thermostat

[Bogertophis]

One other thing, not sure how much it affects BPs, but snakes in general are aware of the shorter days that occurs in winter & instinctively know it's time to brumate (so as not to get caught with food in their stomach that will rot & could kill them if & when they have no chance of actually digesting because it's too cold). See, snakes don't logically know they can over-ride their instincts because now they've got this human trained to buy thermostats & heat mats to hook up to their homes... Anyway, you might try leaving a natural spectrum "day" light on in the room where he is to extend the daylight hours. Don't put it right over his cage- most snakes don't care for bright lights- but just to make the day seem longer, if you can run it pre-dawn & pre-sundown to add a few hours to the day length. Can't guarantee it will work, but it won't cost much to try & it just might help?