Newbie That just needs some advice about how to progress with a stubborn eater

[Bogertophis]

Thanks so much!! yeah, I got worried after a week and wanted to get his weight, rookie mistake but I'm leaving him be till next Wednesday then at night ill feed live hopper. should I take out his water bowl or just leave everything the way it is?

With a live hopper, things might get messy if you leave the water bowl in- I can see why you asked- hoppers can be rather active, so yes, it might be a good idea to remove the water bowl just for the time being so it's not accidentally spilled. I would remove it in the morning actually- so you aren't reaching in & disturbing your BP right before you try to feed him that night. He'll be fine for the day without water, & this is just because he's already a bit stressed & needing to eat- we want to make sure he does. If he eats, you can put the bowl back in right after.

I know many on here talk often about weighing their snakes, but just focus on him eating regularly for you for the time being. Young snakes that are eating young prey don't really gain weight very fast anyway, & it's best not to risk disturbing his appetite by handling to weigh. We've all made "rookie mistakes"- don't beat yourself up- we're here to help you avoid all that we know about -from "experience", lol.

[skreetboy]

thanks so much I'm not gonna bother him at all till I try to feed him I also covered up all sides of the tub beside one. he hasn't had a meal in 2 weeks at this point and hasn't eaten for me at all. he typically sleeps all day some times gets up and romes around for a bit occasionally. at night he's more active no fast movement. but sometimes he tries to climb up the sides of the tub should I be worried about that? it's not constant but sometimes.

[Bogertophis]

thanks so much I'm not gonna bother him at all till I try to feed him I also covered up all sides of the tub beside one. he hasn't had a meal in 2 weeks at this point and hasn't eaten for me at all. he typically sleeps all day some times gets up and roams around for a bit occasionally. at night he's more active no fast movement. but sometimes he tries to climb up the sides of the tub should I be worried about that? it's not constant but sometimes.

His behavior is normal under the circumstances: in nature, snakes learn their way around, so when they move into a new home, it's frightening & confusing- they have no way to understand what happened to the place they knew before, & they try to find it. Just be patient- he needs time to settle in & feel safe where he is now. Fear is an appetite-suppressant- so anything you can do to make him feel safe & relaxed is a good thing, like covering the sides to block much of his view, & letting him rest.

Snakes are not visually-oriented: they see motion but it's a question of "prey or predator?" for them, they don't identify things based on vision alone*- they need other cues (scent, touch, heat) to know what they're dealing with- which is also why snakes don't seem to know if prey will actually "fit" until they subdue it & try to eat it- sometimes it's too big & all they can do is move on & try again. This is also why, when you walk by a hungry snake that's in a cage of some sort, don't take it personal if they seem to think your motion means you're edible prey & chase you (your motion) thru the glass. They don't literally want "you" for dinner- they just don't understand what they're seeing without the scent & touch cues.

Remember too that baby snakes are still learning- they're born with instincts, but must learn by practicing their skills. The best thing we can do for them is provide the right home environment & be patient while they get the hang of eating, without the distraction of any handling.

[skreetboy]

I really can't thank you enough!!! just wanna make sure my little guy has the best possible situation by any means!

[Bogertophis]

I really can't thank you enough!!! just wanna make sure my little guy has the best possible situation by any means!

You just did- I love snakes & enjoy helping new keepers get them figured out, so you both have the best experience. I've been keeping snakes for many years, & when I got started, there wasn't a forum like this to ask questions- I wish there had been. It's just so much easier to keep snakes healthy than to get them well again once they get sick from poor care. You're most welcome.

[skreetboy]

quick update i got a small camera to watch him without him seeing me and i noticed that he romes around a lot more then i thought sometimes he tries to go up and escape sometimes he just romes around. the only thing i’m worried about is sometimes he tries to get u get the paper towel and he rubs is face on the side to try and pick it up should i be worried? or same thing with the last time

[Bogertophis]

It sounds like he's just exploring his "limits" and as long as he's not injuring himself, I wouldn't worry- he's still "new" & likely this behavior will diminish.

Just try to make sure there's nothing too sharp or abrasive that he might get hurt on- good idea on the camera, btw.

[skreetboy]

ok sounds good he used to try and stick his nose through this one hole but i put paper towels so he can’t anymore he’s moved his one hide up a little bit by going behind it’s taking everything in me to leave tit and not fix it but he needs his time

[Bogertophis]

ok sounds good he used to try and stick his nose through this one hole but i put paper towels so he can’t anymore he’s moved his one hide up a little bit by going behind it’s taking everything in me to leave it and not fix it but he needs his time

Some snakes are pretty pushy about rearranging their homes- especially while they're settling in.

[Bleh]

Bogertophis has has probably covered everything you need to know here, and by far has superior experience to myself but I'll offer up my experiences as a fellow BP amateur.

I've been keeping BP's at a low level for circa. 5 years and have recently been successful with my first clutch (I'm very excited and pleased about this )

With my small collection of BP's, I have experienced feeding concerns at adult stage, 'teenage' stage and more recently, with a snakelet a bit smaller than yours (beautiful animal by the way, love the look on pieds).

Another thing here is I only feed frozen thawed. Live feeding isn't legal here, but I do know it is accessible if the snakes life depends on it. Thankfully, I've never got that far!

So with my two adults, my male is the nightmare eater having gone near 6 months without a feed. This gets extremely worrying, but as long as his weight doesn't drop by 10% or more, and he's not showing any signs illness, I.e. wheezing, salivating, lethargy etc, I change his feeding pattern from fortnightly to monthly. He's also a shy eater, so is best left alone with absolutely no other traffic in the room. Every year I've had a dry spell with him around breeding season but he's always kicked back in.
My female is a beast, eats a size up to the male and would smash one every week if I offered it to her (I do occasionally depending on how active she appears) but is also fed bi-weekly as an adult.

My middle two, a pastel spotnose and blue eyes lucy have both had 'dry' spells.
The spotnose I've had since he was just over 100g and has just recently passed 600g so hoping to pair him this season if he keeps gaining nicely and is offered a feed every week.
The BEL was a bit older when I got her and won't be paired for a few years yet.
But the spotnose just decided he didn't want to eat for a number of weeks, and the BEL was obviously distracted by her new surroundings. After 4 weeks of no weekly takes for both of them, I changed from normal rats to multi rats (rats native to Africa) - this has never failed me and after a few multi feeds, I switch back to normal rats. The multi's always seem to work magically and kick their feeding back in.

With my hatchlings, one of the ten hadn't fed 4 weeks post shed. This was where I had to assist feed. I didn't want to get to this point, but thankfully, as soon as I put the rat fluffs head in the snakelets mouth, pulled it back a bit so it latched, the feeding instinct seemed to kick in and the little beauty coiled and constricted, ate the fluff and has smashed feeds every week since.

With the snakelets, I tend to offer a feed every 5-6 days and intend on bringing the hold back in line with my weekly feeds when he goes a size up soon enough.

Other things I consider during feeding times;

Shed - if they're in shed, they'll likely reject food until they've successfully shed their skin. The snakelets don't necessarily follow this rule though!

Handling - I never handle on feeding days.

Feeding time - evenings seem best, as the light diminishes. Again, snakelets don't seem to be bothered with me but the older BP's are always more keen as this is more in line with their natural behaviour and feeding instinct.

Privacy - once they're constricting, leave them have some privacy to enjoy their meals. Spectators may put them off eating and they'll easily get distracted and leave their food.

What I hope to have done here is offer scenarios that work for me and may offer you considerations in finding an outcome that works best for you.

And again, there's already great advice being offered in your thread from some very experienced keepers some of which I have seen comment on many posts and have learned from and continue to learn from.

The key thing I think I've learned over the past few years of keeping BP's is there's no exact science and you'll need to establish what works for the individual and be willing to adapt to suit their needs.

Good luck.