damn bp wont eat

[rabernet]

on a side note, he does sleep in his hide all day during the daylight hours

That is good! Does he have one hide or two? He should have one on the cool end and one on the warm end so he has a place to retreat when he's choosing to thermo-regulate.

Also, I didn't see where you said what his temps are on each side, and how you are measuring temps. What are you using for heat? A UTH (under tank heater), lamp or combo of both. Do you have your UTH on a dimmer, rheostat or thermostat to prevent it from getting too hot?

[redstormlax12]

I typed this out for another person on the forums a couple days ago. Figured i copy it from that post and post it here. I was kinda in the same boat. I just got my first BP about a month ago and he wouldnt feed the first time. Well heres what i did.

When i got my BP from the breeder he said he should switch over to F/T easy since he was such an aggressive feeder with the live. I got mine and about a week or two later i offered him a F/T weanling mouse. This one was white. He wasnt interested at all. Was doing the same thing as yours, just trying to get out of the tub. I was a little worried that he wasnt feeding ( i know their fincky, but i just worry a little more than normal with my animals ) So i covered the sides of his tub, turned up his heatpad and left him alone for about five days. Then. 5 days later, I grabbed a black mouse, Thawed if for a few hours adn then i put it on his heat pad for about 20-30 minutes to get it to body temperature. Then i put him in his feeding tub with paper towels for a subtrate. I grabbed the mouse between its shoulder blades and started to parade it around. In about 3 seconds he struck, but didnt bite and grab it. Then i paraded it for about 5 more seconds and he eagerly grabbed it.

My BP tends to take the black mice a little more readily than the white. Granted ive only fed him four times, its just what ive noticed. The last time i fed him i uncovered just the front of his living tub. Hes doing great now and i get to feed him again this weekend. The last time i put him in his tub, he knew it was feeding time right away. Started to get in the feeding postion and i didnt even have to parade the mouse. He just grabbed it.

Oh and i covered the sides of his feeding tub with paper towels and put his heating pad underneath half of his feeding tub. Once hes eaten i give him a hide in the feeding tub and leave him for about an hour to make sure hes got it down nice and good. I know im no expert and by no means do i claim to be. More of an loudmouth, as you can see. But i hope he eats soon.

[armbarvictim]

you guys are awesome! Thanks for the help I really sincerely appreciate it all. Well I cover the sides and back of the viv with black construction paper and am going to put the newspaper in right away.

I have a thermometer with a hydrometer combo digital thingy majigy and I put the thermometer probe under the substrate(aspen) where the uth is. I put the humidity probe in the middle of the glass on the back wall of the tank.


I also keep a heat lamp on about 8 inches above the viv, pointed around the middle of the back wall. I turn it off at night time

I am not sure if I have room for another identical hide in the viv, here is what it looks like



I keep a damp towel on top to keep the humidity around 50-60 percent in the viv at all times, as I dont want to mist it too too often due to bacteria growth.


What type of bedding should I use if I will be feeding in the viv, as it seems aspen could be digested pretty easily and that cant be great for him.

Also what temp should the uth be at to avoid burns?

[rabernet]

There's plenty of room in there for another hide - in the front right!

A wee bit of aspen won't hurt them if they ingest it - I fed on aspen all the time, until I switched to paper. I didn't switch because of feeding, but because it's just much easier to maintain with the number of animals that I have, and I hated pulling out the vacuum cleaner every time I worked with the snakes.

Put the probe of your thermometer on top of the substrate inside the warm side hide. You want to measure the temps where your animal is actually laying. You want the temps to be about 88-90 degrees on top of the substrate. Your aspen is a bit thick, so it may be hard to heat through all of that. You probably only need about 1/2 of that.

[armbarvictim]

ahhhh ok i will do that

[grim reaper in NY]

One thing you need to learn when it comes to these pets is patience. Believe it or not, these snakes can go for a very long time without eating. The key is to ensure their viv's are adequate and equipped appropriately. Each python adjusts to their new surroundings at their own pace. Some adjust quickly and others adjust a little slower. Just make sure you have your setup done right and fully equipped the way it needs to be to ensure the best environment possible.

[Danounet]

you guys are awesome! Thanks for the help I really sincerely appreciate it all. Well I cover the sides and back of the viv with black construction paper and am going to put the newspaper in right away.

I have a thermometer with a hydrometer combo digital thingy majigy and I put the thermometer probe under the substrate(aspen) where the uth is. I put the humidity probe in the middle of the glass on the back wall of the tank.


I also keep a heat lamp on about 8 inches above the viv, pointed around the middle of the back wall. I turn it off at night time

I am not sure if I have room for another identical hide in the viv, here is what it looks like



I keep a damp towel on top to keep the humidity around 50-60 percent in the viv at all times, as I dont want to mist it too too often due to bacteria growth.


What type of bedding should I use if I will be feeding in the viv, as it seems aspen could be digested pretty easily and that cant be great for him.

Also what temp should the uth be at to avoid burns?

Compare that to when I started out and that ball is having a Ball

I did so many wrong things to my first poor BP.... sometimes when Im holding her, I stare at her and say "Im soooooooo sorry" LOL!

[Patricia]

I did so many wrong things to my first poor BP.... sometimes when Im holding her, I stare at her and say "Im soooooooo sorry" LOL!

Amazing that they survive our first weeks of newbie-ness, eh? They must be hardier critters than we give them credit for, LOL!

Re. the depth of aspen, I spent my first month going nuts with adjusting temps and the level of substrate. I finally realized that newspaper (not 50 sheets either!) and a single layer of paper towel on top, or perhaps just a little bark -- not even enough to fully cover the newspaper -- did the job while being thin enough to give accurate temperature readings which were easier to control.

[dc4teg]

Amazing that they survive our first weeks of newbie-ness, eh? They must be hardier critters than we give them credit for, LOL!

well in nature they do slither around rocks, some of them can be sharp!
ya I'm pretty sure they are as tough as nails compared to what we give them credit for