Young snake won't take F/T, try live next?

[cletus]

Oh derp I totally missed that second paragraph the first time I read the op. You definitely need to move him to a smaller enclosure, that's likely the reason why he doesn't want to eat.



I've never heard this before and I find it really interesting. So you have first hand experience with snakes not wanting to eat food after it's been sitting in hot water for too long? I wonder what changes in the rat to make it undesirable after it's been "overcooked".

Not for too long. It was in water that was too hot. The only reason I mentioned it was that the OP said "was heated up in hot, not boiling, water". I took that to mean really hot water. I might be wrong there but I def have first hand experience. I did it in extremely hot water to speed up the process and I wasted a mouse by basically cooking it. My snake walked up and said "Dude, I said thawed and warmed. Not well done". And that was that.

[PythonBabes]

Don't warm it too much, very messy....

My baby BP would not eat for me at all, followed Deborah's guide and next feeding day Karma snatched that mouse up so fast

[kxr]

Don't warm it too much, very messy....

My baby BP would not eat for me at all, followed Deborah's guide and next feeding day Karma snatched that mouse up so fast

Yep... I've had first hand experience with that one. It's even worse if you have something that hits their food harder than a ball python. I once let my adult rat get too warm before I tried to feed it to my carpet... It resulted in probably the worst smell I've ever smelt and a big mess to say the least. Pretty sure that was the closest I've been to throwing up in a long time.

[KMG]

I'd make sure you aren't using water too hot to thaw the rodent. I'd let it thaw naturally and then heat it with a blow dryer or something like that. If you cook the prey the snake wont take it. If you are buying the prepacked frozen mice from Petsmart or some place like that, just leave the bag out for a couple hours at room temp and it will thaw. Warm it up and present it. The only time I haven't been successful is when I overcooked the prey with overly hot water. it's a lot easier to do than you would think. Good luck! I hope he starts eating for you!

Ive been doing this for a good while now and never had a problem with cooking a rodent. You must have some crazy hot water.

Do you know how long it would take to naturally thaw prey up to a XXL rat? Then trying to heat that properly with a hair dryer?

No thanks.

[ferrislongdog]

So the message I'm getting here is I need to have him in a tub instead? I don't want to put him in yet another new setting to get used to, and I'm not sure what it would look like if he was being stressed out by the size of the current tank?

[Rikoku]

My snake walked up and said "Dude, I said thawed and warmed. Not well done". And that was that.

[Rikoku]

So the message I'm getting here is I need to have him in a tub instead? I don't want to put him in yet another new setting to get used to, and I'm not sure what it would look like if he was being stressed out by the size of the current tank?

Moving around a lot, trying to get out, and not eating.

[KMG]

So the message I'm getting here is I need to have him in a tub instead? I don't want to put him in yet another new setting to get used to, and I'm not sure what it would look like if he was being stressed out by the size of the current tank?

I have raised small snakes in large cages and others have too. My BP was always my best feeder until she got a few years old. She started in a 40gal and is still in it today.

Her previous owner was having issues with her but once I set her tank up she started slamming the food and didn't stop until she was a nice healthy adult.

I would say it would be bad to move your snake at this time. To give her more security you may cover some of the cage to limit what she can see on the outside. Taping paper to the outside walls would work fine.

Then as long as you have good hides, offer enough cover, and are properly heating the prey you should be on your way.

[Zincubus]

I have raised small snakes in large cages and others have too. My BP was always my best feeder until she got a few years old. She started in a 40gal and is still in it today.

Her previous owner was having issues with her but once I set her tank up she started slamming the food and didn't stop until she was a nice healthy adult.

I would say it would be bad to move your snake at this time. To give her more security you may cover some of the cage to limit what she can see on the outside. Taping paper to the outside walls would work fine.

Then as long as you have good hides, offer enough cover, and are properly heating the prey you should be on your way.

As above .... Plus offer the feed immediately so it's still warm , mine all strike from within their hides so I dangle the warmed up rat in front of the entrance ... if they don't take it straight away don't faff about , simply give it's head another ten second blast and wiggle it about in front of him without delay ... simply keep repeating this procedure until it eats .

One other point is to try offering in the evening , couple of mine eat when it goes dark ..... They are nocturnal after all .


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[ferrislongdog]

He does at times poke around at the screen lid in an attempt to escape and does move around when he isn't basking or in a hide. I have all four sides covered currently. I've seen a where people have started off a young python in an even more revealing 40 gal and it still eats, just not my guy. i do wonder if maybe the temps aren't ideal? They do stay around 85 in the air and above and I tested out all sorts of bulbs before I got him to go with my two UTH to keep it closer to 90, but most everything ended up being overkill. The ground temp on the bedding is fine, but the air can vary, which is where the thermostat probe is gauging. Should I be as worried about that ambient air temp on the warm side? Is that maybe becoming too hot paired with the UTH keeping the bedding warm?