Signs of hunger, stress?

[iddah]

My bp hasn't eaten for nearly three weeks now, he is three months old, and weighed 70g when I took his weight recently. He had a successful shed and appears otherwise healthy, he has been using both of his hides, and I have observed him drinking from his water dish a couple of times, after which he has gone straight back into his hide, so in that regard, his behavior seems normal/healthy to me.

I'd say during the past three or four days or so, he has been displaying morning and daytime activity, which he has not done previously; I usually barely see him during the day, other than if I happen to catch him going for a drink, and then going back to hiding. He still uses his hides, but appears to be out far more than usual. From what I can tell, his movement is not erratic; but he does appear to be exploring his enclosure, including him climbing up on top of artificial plants and nosing the metal grate/screen of the top lid of his viv - - a behavior similar to the one he displayed when I first introduced him to his tank. I have read that "escape attempt behaviors" are a sign of a stressed snake, which is why I'm worried he may not be eating due to something stressing him out for some reason all of the sudden.

What is confusing to me though is that this behavior is completely unusual for him and he has only been doing this for a few days; he has not seemed stressed previously at all, nor has he been out much when it is light out, until now.

Due to an ambient temp drop in his tank, I had to get him either a CHE or an infrared, and I chose infrared for being more affordable, I have had to use it to get his ambient temps back to the normal range, could the infrared be a reason for his activity? When I turned it on he did almost immediately come up out of his hot spot, appeared to be looking upward toward the source of heat with his tongue flicking, and went straight into his cool side - - so he switched hides in favor of the one that is receiving added heat.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do in order to get him to eat, other than offer larger prey item because the rat pinkys are smaller than his midsection - - and since he has refused the rat pinkys I have offered, I was considering offering him a fuzzy next.

- His breeder has established him on f/t rat pinkys; he was fed five times at the breeder's.

- His humidity and temperatures are good; his hot side is set to 33C at all times, his cool side is back at 25.5 to 26C after I got the infrared for him, and his humidity is at 60% (75-77% during more humid days).

- Handling has been kept to a minimum, and I have not disturbed the snake.

- He is currently in a 10 gallon baby tank.

- The area around his enclosure is quiet, with very minimal movement/traffic around it.

- His enclosure is clean (no mold, feces, etc), he has not defecated, though I have removed small urates.

- The sides and the back of his tank are covered in black paper.

- He has two identical, low-ceiling plastic hides; with crumpled up paper towels inside; he uses both hides.