i think i found a problem with feeding in enclosure...

[FrankieCarbone]

well my BP is of and on feed since the winter started, and i offer a meal every week. Sometimes he takes it, some times he dont, i have a maybe 70 percent chance hes gonna take it when ever i drop a mouse in, yes he is a mouser @ 968g (weighed him last week after a poop).

I always have fed in his enclosure, and always live. Here is my problem, since he refuses rats, and will only eat mice, i always buy 2 of them to see if he will take them. Sometimes i drop the first one in and hell eat it, then the second hell ignore, sometimes hell eat both. But when he dosent take them thats when i think i have a problem. I usually leave the mouse in there for about 20 minutes (watching the whole time of course) and last feed for example, i dropped the mouse in, he showed alot of interest but when he would get up close to the mouse he would back away. My rule is if he does this twice, its done, he wont eat this time, and i take the mouse out. But in that time, in those 20 minutes that mouse is in the tank, hes all over the place, and eventually gets wise to the fact there is a snake in that tank wanting to take him out, and the mouse starts peeing and pooping all over the tank, thats fine, i spot clean that (i use aspen bedding) but what happens is the tank still reaks of mice for like 2 days. So after i take the mouse out and my bp is in his hide i see him like a house later in hunt mode, then later on in the middle of the night allllll the way thru the next day in the afternoon hes hyperactive, all over the place. It takes him a full day and a half sometimes 2 days to finally calm down and stay in his hide. And thats only cuz by then the tank dosent smell of mice anymore.

Im not saying i want to switch to feeding outside his enclosure, but im just venting i guess, it pisses me off when he dosent eat, and then when he dosent hes stressed out looking for something that is not there for days!

Now its been 3 days since he has calmed down and i havent seen him out of his hide, and today i wake up real early and see half his head sticking out of the hide, here we go again, showing signs of hunger and tonight i will try and feed again. I just wish he would eat rats, would save me alot of trouble and plus rats dont stink like mice do

[Slim]

I would say your issue is one of feeding live, more than of feeding in his enclosure. Though, I will concede that the issues are interrelated. Have you ever tried this guy on F/T? And I mean really tried...sometimes it takes a month before they'll get over themselves and strike a F/T. I know some never make the switch, and maybe I've just been lucky. *Knocking on wood*

[FrankieCarbone]

in my situation, F/T is out of the question unfortunately

[jbean7916]

in my situation, F/T is out of the question unfortunately

What about p/k?

sent from my EVO

[HighVoltageRoyals]

I feed live in enclosure and yeah, they pee and poop. But I also don't use aspen, I use paper towels = super easy clean up for me with minimal stress on the snake when I clean.

I just wait until they're done eating and go hang out in their nice warm hides, remove the hide from the enclosure (the hides have bottoms) and replace all paper towels that have been soiled, this way, I'm not handling them right after they eat and their enclosure are nice and clean for them. Easy peesy lemon squeezy.

[FrankieCarbone]

I wish i could clean up like that, but take a look at my jungle of a setup in my profile, my only way to clean is to spot clean and a little healthy habitat here and there

And as far as prekilled, i tried that before, he wont take it unless it moves, and the "zombie dance" does not work cuz as soon as he sees my hand and that long metal object coming from it, hes outta there...

[WifeOfSlasher]

Have you tried priming him? Worked like a charm for us! Offer one live mouse and then once that one is down the hatch offer the p/k f/t mouse. If he ignores it then just leave it in the tank near his hide over night.

[Slim]

remove the hide from the enclosure (the hides have bottoms)

I really don't want to hijack this thread, but I would love some info on your hides with bottoms. Do you have a link?

[HighVoltageRoyals]

I really don't want to hijack this thread, but I would love some info on your hides with bottoms. Do you have a link?

Oh, LOL I really hate to admit this but I am one frugal momma! At my work when we order supplies, we get all sizes of cardboard boxes sent to us. I just get an appropriate sized box, make sure it's all closed up (self-sealing boxes --> no tape! ), and cut a hole in the side. I keep my babes in tubs so there's really no reason for me to get a "fancy" looking hide.

I do check regularly for mold but it hasn't been an issue yet (been using cardboard boxes for a couple months now). I'm sure there are more professional hides out there with bottoms but I do like my cheap alternative and the snakes like them as well [the cardboard seems to hold heat really well]!

[Annarose15]

So...switch him to rats. Get some soiled mouse bedding from the store when you get the rat and let him "marinate" for a few minutes, then drop him in. If he refuses, same routine next week. At almost 1000g, your BP can go quite a while refusing food without any detriment to his health (I had a 300g girl go six weeks, so he could last months), but he will eventually eat. You just have to be stronger willed than him.