Only eaten about 3 times in 5 months

[Bogertophis]

Update: Got two fuzzy mice and one fuzzy rat. Offered mouse first, went after it. Offered second mouse, took immediately. I then offered the fuzzy rat (which was on the small side, maybe 10g) and the snake did something peculiar. The fuzzy rat wasn't moving much and the snake kept sliding its head over it. Finally, instead of striking and wrapping it, the snake started to swallow it, still alive. The tail was still moving as he finished it...

BTW, that's not such a strange thing at all. Once snakes learn that fuzzy rodents are basically helpless, many don't bother to kill them first*, they just do what yours did- swallow them. *They're also rather small to try to constrict- but mostly snakes seem to realize they pose no danger.

[MedicalAuthor]

Did 1 mouse fuzzy plus two rat fuzzies today. Interestingly, I had just read the 'psychology of problem feeders' article stickied on this forum and my BP was in the hide that has an old shed there (I kept it there cus I thought it might make it feel more like home, haha) and he didn't seem interested in the mouse. He moved to the other side of the tank and I tried again and he struck quickly and then promptly ate the two rats after.

Will try this method for a month or two, see if I can transition to just rats, and then once it feels like we're in a good feeding rhythm I'll get a CO2 set up and try a fresh killed rat pup.

In terms of fresh killed, do people usually have really good results from it or is there a need to reheat after some time? For example, the feed above it took the snake about an hour to go for the mouse and I figure if that was a fresh kill it would have been room temp by then and in need of a reheat?

[Bogertophis]

I guess yours likes a clean house? Hahaha. Snakes aren't all the same- you'll just have to pay close attention to yours, as to what they like & respond best to. And when you try fresh-killed, make sure he's HUNGRY- by that, I mean a bit longer interval since the last meal, & make sure he's not going into shed. Most take it quick, but there's exceptions. (If they were kids, they'd be refusing to eat their veggies... ) Can't guarantee you won't need to re-heat. Besides, I hate to spoil any "surprises"-