Hi there, long time no post. So this winter my adult male BP went on a food strike, which I was prepared to deal with eventually. Despite being a voracious eater in the past, it's been around 3 months since his last successful meal. Despite the weather warming up, however, he's adamant about his food strike it seems. I'm not extremely worried at this time, as I know bps are notorious for this, and going by visual weight guides, he's not even in the "slim" category yet. But I'd feel a lot better if he'd just take a dang meal!

His habitat has not changed since before the food strike(besides the addition of more fake foliage cover to help him feel less exposed) but I know stats are usually preferred on these threads:

Enclosure/Husbandry: He's in a secured plastic tub with an UTH(with thermostat) on one end, with a ceramic heat bulb on very low power above the center to help boost the ambient temp as I'm in Canada. The bulb is not touching any plastic elements as I replaced the center of the tub's lid with a metal/grated lid. The ambient temp is 77-80 with a basking area+hide at 90-94. Temps are monitored with a temp gun, and the humidity is 50% with a humid hide for when he sheds. Bedding is aspen, and there are plentiful hides across the enclosure with tons of plant cover and enrichment. I currently feed him small rats that are frozen/thawed.

Feeding attempts/info: I've been offering food around once every 1-2 weeks, and avoiding offering around any stressful timings(such as cleaning his tub). Before this hunger strike, I can't remember him refusing food at all, but now it seems to stress him out greatly. I've done everything I can to keep his stress levels low, so handling has been done minimally and there's a towel helping cover/hide the sides of his enclosure. I've tried my usual feeding methods as well as leaving the f/t rodent overnight, moving to a separate smaller enclosure and leaving him alone in a zero traffic area with the rodent for 45 minutes, and defrosting the rodent in a bag so the scent is stronger(combined with other methods).

Behavior: I'm not sure if it's helpful, but I'll describe his behavior when attempting to feed. Very little or no tongue flicking, seems to stay in a defensive/stressed position throughout the attempt. Completely freezes up, and if I bring the rodent closer to him, he'll try to avoid it and move to a different area. Shows (from my observation) very little interest in feeding, and just seems to be stressed throughout the attempt.

When I'm able, I'm going to see about getting some new frozen rodents from a pet shop in town, because my current stock has been in the deep freezer for a while and I'm wondering if they've gone "off". No visual issues or smell, but it's worth trying. If that doesn't work, I may attempt to brain one and see if that entices him, if that would be an advisable next step. I might also see if he's more enticed by smaller prey, or possibly mice.

If none of the food attempts work, I may try moving him to a different location. He's in a relatively low-trafficked area, and has eaten from this location without issue in the past, but I wonder if the proximity to something in here is causing him stress.

I'm also wondering if handling MORE could help, as the only times his enclosure is opened lately is cleaning or feeding attempts. But I'd like to hear more experienced thoughts before trying anything that could potentially make this worse for the little guy.

If anyone has other suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them. If any other info is needed please let me know! Thanks so much