Beans is being stubborn, or just picky.

[BeansTheDerp]

also, something odd, you know how cat's and dogs will have that "one spot" that they love being touched or scratched or whatever. I think Beans developed a spot, sometimes I'll lightly pat him on the head and he'll just sit there in almost a "scoping" position, he won't move out of the way, he won't flatten down, he'll just let me do it, he also let's me pet his chin. sometimes he'll even move into the "my body is my pillow" formation afterwards, then he'll accept even more head pats and chin pets. could this just be enjoying it or something else?

[Zincubus]

WOW those snakes are big and so is that set-up, it looks awesome! as for the hair dryer method, we had tried that one night with no luck, we're hoping he'll take it in the future, but for now we're feeding him rat-pups and watching every second to make sure it doesn't get ugly (the rat being the attacker) and he's been doing well. we would sit there for like 30 minutes trying to get him to take the frozen rat and he wouldn't take it, but when we put the live rat pup in there he takes it within 30 seconds. his record for how fast it is is 13 seconds, hopefully we'll beat the record but with a F/T....

Well the hairdryer method is far more than just giving the mouse /rat a quick blast with a hairdryer...

Works best in the dark / dim / low light so the heat pits kick-in , thawing in the snake room to get the snakes hungry with the rodent smell and only offering when the snake is well settled UNDER a hide , then feed at the hide entrance.


I see people saying they tried the hairdryer trick but the snake slithered away almost as though it was scared ... that happens because many of not most Royals need the security of a hide to feel confident enough to strike and constrict


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[BeansTheDerp]

also, something odd, you know how cat's and dogs will have that "one spot" that they love being touched or scratched or whatever. I think Beans developed a spot, sometimes I'll lightly pat him on the head and he'll just sit there in almost a "scoping" position, he won't move out of the way, he won't flatten down, he'll just let me do it, he also let's me pet his chin. sometimes he'll even move into the "my body is my pillow" formation afterwards, then he'll accept even more head pats and chin pets. could this just be enjoying it or something else?

of course he'll sometimes be like "ew no don't touch me" but sometimes (most times) he'll jus sit there and let me do it, my cat does that sometimes too, where he'll let you do it but sometimes it's "ew no."

[Trinityblood]

fun fact, he actually went 4 weeks, which is when we gave up because I was convinced that was too long, but after giving him over 3 live meals we tried some more F/T and he had absolutely no interest, also we tried that method you mentioned as well, no luck. like I said, we'll try again sometime.

I don't know if it will work for you, but after thawing a rat I aim the hair dryer at the rat's head and point the dryer at the cage with the door cracked. My snake always sticks his head out of his hide and starts to S-pose, and that's when I offer the rat.

[Zincubus]

I don't know if it will work for you, but after thawing a rat I aim the hair dryer at the rat's head and point the dryer at the cage with the door cracked. My snake always sticks his head out of his hide and starts to S-pose, and that's when I offer the rat.

Yeah a quick blast of heated rodent in the viv can only help things


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[Bogertophis]

also, something odd, you know how cat's and dogs will have that "one spot" that they love being touched or scratched or whatever. I think Beans developed a spot, sometimes I'll lightly pat him on the head and he'll just sit there in almost a "scoping" position, he won't move out of the way, he won't flatten down, he'll just let me do it, he also let's me pet his chin. sometimes he'll even move into the "my body is my pillow" formation afterwards, then he'll accept even more head pats and chin pets. could this just be enjoying it or something else?

It's hard to say if Beans likes it or just doesn't hate it enough to move away, lol. But off-hand, I think most likely it relaxes him.

One of my 2 year old FL rat snakes (the really hyper & feisty one of the 3 sisters) discovered the joy of a warm pocket last night. I noticed she was out & about in her home, so I decided it was time for another visit with me. She's about 3 1/2' long now, & when I first pick her up, she thrashes some & tries to fly out of my hands. I have to be very patient with her- a light touch of control keeps her from nipping until she settles down. I have noticed for many years that many snakes get mellow when you do a slight swaying motion- maybe it relaxes them, maybe it's a distraction, who knows? but sitting in a hammock with them, or a rocker or swivel chair, helps- and that was my first intention last evening.

But once I calmed Mirikel down, I then showed her the deep hip pocket on my shirt: she slid in, & as her tail tip was about to disappear, out came her little face, looking at me, sort of puzzled. Once she relaxed more, I held my hand over her, for warmth felt by her thru the knit fabric, & my thumb to shade her eyes. I kept petting her very lightly thru the material, & she sat there happily for well over an hour, watching me & apparently comfortable. She only came out when I nudged her some, & hopefully she'll be learning to relax better, the more we do this. (BTW, her 2 sisters are very calm & easy to handle- she's the odd one.)

My point is: whatever works!

[BeansTheDerp]

It's hard to say if Beans likes it or just doesn't hate it enough to move away, lol. But off-hand, I think most likely it relaxes him.

One of my 2 year old FL rat snakes (the really hyper & feisty one of the 3 sisters) discovered the joy of a warm pocket last night. I noticed she was out & about in her home, so I decided it was time for another visit with me. She's about 3 1/2' long now, & when I first pick her up, she thrashes some & tries to fly out of my hands. I have to be very patient with her- a light touch of control keeps her from nipping until she settles down. I have noticed for many years that many snakes get mellow when you do a slight swaying motion- maybe it relaxes them, maybe it's a distraction, who knows? but sitting in a hammock with them, or a rocker or swivel chair, helps- and that was my first intention last evening.

But once I calmed Mirikel down, I then showed her the deep hip pocket on my shirt: she slid in, & as her tail tip was about to disappear, out came her little face, looking at me, sort of puzzled. Once she relaxed more, I held my hand over her, for warmth felt by her thru the knit fabric, & my thumb to shade her eyes. I kept petting her very lightly thru the material, & she sat there happily for well over an hour, watching me & apparently comfortable. She only came out when I nudged her some, & hopefully she'll be learning to relax better, the more we do this. (BTW, her 2 sisters are very calm & easy to handle- she's the odd one.)

My point is: whatever works!

aw that's so cute! Beans prefers using long sleeves as hammocks, and he doesn't ever want to come out and I have to be very careful. Beans is such a puppy though, he's like a lap dog, (one time he escaped his snake bag while I was cleaning his enclosure, between me and him was a vent on my floor and smoothly blasted warm air that was around his enclosure temperature, instead of slithering near that and being on that thing, he slither past it and slithered onto my lap and curled up and looked up at me with his derpy puppy eyes) he has puppy eyes (as I just mentioned) and he a lazy boi

[FollowTheSun]

I'm coming in very late on this thread, but I just wanted to chime in and say that no healthy snake will allow itself to starve to death. They have very slow metabolisms, and they are not as active as snakes in the wild. When they reach adulthood and stop growing fast, they really don't need to eat as often as people think. Add in shedding, too. Sometimes they are entering a shed but we don't see it yet.

I have two BPs who are 3 and 5 years old and it's normal for them to eat only once a month . . . if that. The female went 5 months without eating during wintertime a couple of years ago .This year they both went 3 months.

After stressing out, trying all the tricks for heating them up perfectly, etc. I now just am patient. I have learned to watch for hunger cues like having their heads out of the hides all day long, being more alert to movements around the enclosures and moving when they see my hand in front of the enclosure, more active at night crawling all over the place, and then I wait a few days beyond those signs to offer them food frozen thawed, warmed in the sink). Sometimes they still don't take it. I wait another week and try again, and usually they will take it that time. They are both healthy snakes of a healthy weight. Not too fat like you see a lot of them here, not too thin which would indicate poor health. They have good sheds, are active when removed and held, and I just enjoy them rather than stressing out over their eating. As I said, a healthy snake will not allow itself to starve.

[EL-Ziggy]

I’m glad Beans is eating for you. If feeding live is working for you then stick with it. You’ll have to be really careful once you start feeding larger prey though. How much does a live rat pup go for these days? I totally agree with FollowTheSun. I’ve never seen a healthy animal starve itself to death. The hunger ALWAYS wins in the end end. If you don’t mind the extra costs, and trips to the pet store every week or two, then there’s no need to change anything. If you REALLY want your snake to eat f/t then don’t offer it anything else. I assure you it will eat eventually. It could take a few months, or even up to a year, but the snake will eat. With my stubborn carpets and kings it usually took about 3-4 months for them to fall in line. I’ve had BPs go 8 & 12 months without food. I just keep offering food every 2-4 weeks until the snake eats or starves. So far they’ve ALL chosen to eat. Best wishes with Mr. Beans

[BlueOrleans1290]

Hey Beans! I'm glad you got Beans to eat! Good luck for the future!