Questions about age, adjustment time and eating.

[Bogertophis]

So here is my plan for Wednesday. Do the normal thawing process but feed him before he comes out of the hide. From all the help you have generously given me, I think I was waiting too long to fee him. I did also lowered and double checked the temps and humidity. There in the parameter we talked about. I may need to invest in a small soft light source as my normal room light is rather bright.

Any thoughts?

Sounds good- & yes, offer food when he's in his hide. Some BPs will be watching to grab prey from the door, others prefer that you leave it there & totally go away (don't watch, & room dark). Hard to say which plan your BP prefers- without instructions from prior owner, it's "trial & error" for you. I'd say try to get him to grab prey, but if he doesn't, just leave it & go away- check in the morning & hope it's gone. Since he's a more mature snake, it's very likely he's used to being "drop-fed".

[KL888]

While... He didn't eat it. I thawed it overnight in the fridge, took out about three hours before feeding, put it in the enclosure around 8:30 by the hide opening. Put a towel over the front so it extra dark and quiet. About 2 am I hear he moving around, take a quick peek. He came out of the hide and didn't even touch it. No big deal, I put the towel back. 10 am he is now sleeping between the hide and the glass and the rats still there. The rat also bleed a little once it thawed, so he must smell it on some level. I did notice something, his head is a little unsteady and he seems very curious, almost too curious. Like when I opened the enclosure he is awake, he'll come right up to me but not in threatening way. When you expect him to run away or ball up. So i don't know. Any thoughts and any thought on live feeders. I mean I know it's risk but I will to do what it take for him to be healthy and content.

thank you

KL

[Hugsplox]

While... He didn't eat it. I thawed it overnight in the fridge, took out about three hours before feeding, put it in the enclosure around 8:30 by the hide opening. Put a towel over the front so it extra dark and quiet. About 2 am I hear he moving around, take a quick peek. He came out of the hide and didn't even touch it. No big deal, I put the towel back. 10 am he is now sleeping between the hide and the glass and the rats still there. The rat also bleed a little once it thawed, so he must smell it on some level. I did notice something, his head is a little unsteady and he seems very curious, almost too curious. Like when I opened the enclosure he is awake, he'll come right up to me but not in threatening way. When you expect him to run away or ball up. So i don't know. Any thoughts and any thought on live feeders. I mean I know it's risk but I will to do what it take for him to be healthy and content.

thank you

KL

I don't know that you need to think about switching to live just yet. Maybe let him go the week again and next time try feeding thongs and wiggle the feeder around a bit in front of him to mimic a live feeder. Also you can use a hair dryer to blast the head and get it nice and warm, not hot but warm, so he can sense it a little better. Most of my snakes are on frozen/thawed and the hairdryer trick has worked to get even my picky hognoses eating, so it's worth a shot.

Like Bogertophis said before, the good thing about him being a bit older is that going off food for a few weeks won't hurt him. Plus, again to quote Bogertophis, some snakes prefer being drop-fed like you tried, while others prefer to grab which you can try next, but either way with him being older you can try a few things before trying live.

[KL888]

I did the hair dryer but I bet I need to do it longer, and it was a drop feed. how long do you think you hair dry it for? I don't really want to go live feeder, I mean I have my hands full with a snake. I don't need to be a rodent rancher too.

KL

[Hugsplox]

I did the hair dryer but I bet I need to do it longer, and it was a drop feed. how long do you think you hair dry it for? I don't really want to go live feeder, I mean I have my hands full with a snake. I don't need to be a rodent rancher too.

KL

Not very long, I like to check mine with a temp gun and try to get the head pretty close to what a live rat would be at. You don't really have to be that scientific to be honest, that's just what I do. I think what really helps in my case, is I do this in my reptile room. Heating up a feeder for one snake gets the smell drifting around, and as I got around feeding the others start coming out trying to see what's up lol.

[KL888]

Okay. So I did the blow drying. It didn't work. I did notice he seems to be scared of the feeder. I left it near the opening of the hide after he did not take it from the tongs. He had been in this hide the most. I woke up this morning and the feeder is still there and he is in the other hide. I am starting to worry. It's pretty clear he is settled in now, he is behaving like a BP should but still won't eat. it's just short of a month. Thank you all in advance .


KL

[Hugsplox]

Okay. So I did the blow drying. It didn't work. I did notice he seems to be scared of the feeder. I left it near the opening of the hide after he did not take it from the tongs. He had been in this hide the most. I woke up this morning and the feeder is still there and he is in the other hide. I am starting to worry. It's pretty clear he is settled in now, he is behaving like a BP should but still won't eat. it's just short of a month. Thank you all in advance .


KL

I don't want you to start worrying just yet. With him being almost a year old you have a little time before you should let yourself get super stressed. Remind me, how long are you going between feeding attempts? I know you said initially that you had done both 1 week and 2 weeks, how long did you wait on this one?

If you want to try live just to get something in him, I would wait 2 weeks and then try a pup or if he's big enough a weaned rat. Weaned rats will bite, so I would keep a pair of feeding thongs on hand just to redirect if the rat tries to bit if/when your BP grabs it.

Also one other piece of advice, and this has saved me a lot of stress particularly with crested geckos. Get yourself if you haven't already, a kitchen scale, and start weighing your snake every couple of weeks. I did this when I first started keeping crested geckos because I was so worried that they weren't eating, and I was sure they were starving to death. Being able to see them, even if it was just a little at a time, gaining weight, did a lot for my stress level. I continued this with all my snakes, and other lizards through the years and it's given me a good bit of peace of mind.

[KL888]

I have been doing about mostly 1 week. I did 2 weeks once. I am literally going to buy a scale after writing this. I'll hold off on live until one more feeding attempt, I have to do some research as where I would get live feeders anyway. Again thank you so much for all the help.

[KL888]

I weighed him and he's around 11.8 oz. (Take into consideration that he is likely 1.5 years old and a male,) that is under the average weight, However at he same time he shows no other signs of being under weight, body is larger then the head, spine is noticeable but not overly so, his skin looks to fit right no hangs or wrinkles. Any thoughts?

KL

[KL888]

He ate. A live feeding but hopefully this will stoke is apatite.