Quote Originally Posted by nlutfi View Post
to test heat on the hot side i am using the heat gun straight to the bedding but not to the glass underneath. im getting about 83-83 inside and outside the hides on the substrate. i do have a small bonzi tree in the cage and some fake plants and branches. do u think i need a more powerful UTH to get the hot side warmer? also i offered a meal for the first time today, a live hopper mouse. but he seemed to have no interest. last time he had eaten was about a week and half ago at the breeders. how often should i offer food? thanks for the fast replies.
Check the temperature on the glass. If that's in the right range, then you're golden. The snake will more than likely end up pushing the bedding out of the way and sitting directly on the glass anyways, so you want to make sure that temperature isn't too hot. I don't think you'll need a different heater, just play around with the dimmer until you get it to the right temperature.

Since he didn't take the hopper, try again in about a week. It's important that you give him time to settle in, so don't mess around with him or handle him until he's eaten a meal (you can take him out if you need to clean and such, but don't handle unnecessarily). If he still doesn't go for it, then you can either contact the breeder and ask them how they were feeding him and try to mimic what they were doing, or come back on the forum and ask. There are lots of people with great answers on here.