Having trouble feeding. I think my BP is scared of f/t rats.

[MrLang]

I'm not sure why nobody has said this, but stop trying to feed it so often.

Leave it alone for a whole week. Don't look at it, poke at it, slide anything around, nothing except cleaning the water bowl.

Then try again.

[blaze]

I've had my spider since May 27th and yesterday was the first time he ate for me since I got him. He would strike, miss it and then get scared and hide. Yesterday I got frusterated and left the f/t small rat in his enclosure and went out with my family for 6 hours. When I got home, I noticed the rat wasn't there and I peeked under his hide.. he was juuuust starting to eat it, only the head was in his mouth. So, don't freak out just yet! It took my boy almost 6 hours to go check out the nice smelly rat near his house, just leave it in there and eventually the tantalizing aroma of dead rat will overpower him!

I'll keep trying. Thanks!

[blaze]

I'm not sure why nobody has said this, but stop trying to feed it so often.

Leave it alone for a whole week. Don't look at it, poke at it, slide anything around, nothing except cleaning the water bowl.

Then try again.

The thing is that I did just that this week. I left him alone all week. Only change his water bowl every other day or so and that's it. It's been 3 weeks now since his last meal. Last attempt at feeding was last Monday.

Also is it a bad idea to fully clean his enclosure today? It's been about 2-3 days after a month. I feel like I should clean everything and change substrate to fresh new one. Sorry if it's off topic. I'm just not sure if it might affect him when I try feeding again next week.

[MrLang]

Sorry, I think I missed that you waited. I just saw the post started on 6/26 and here we are 6 days later and it sounded like you had tried to feed several times in that period. As long as the snake's body condition isn't deteriorating, I think most people would advise you to wait at least 4 or 5 days between these attempts.

If you've done things like try to leave a frozen rodent in there for a while, I would probably go ahead and clean the cage. If there's no change in scent from idle to feeding time, the snake is probably less likely to start to have a feeding response stimulated.

[Ben.L]

It's been 3 weeks now since his last meal.

I know it might seem a long time, but it really isn't. I have a female who hasn't eaten since last November - imagine how frustrating that is!

If he isn't eating it's likely that he simply isn't hungry. Wait a week at least before attempts, don't chase him around the tub with a zombie rat. As long as your husbandry is up to scratch, it's just a waiting game

Best of luck

[blaze]

Sorry I haven't been replying much. Had a very busy week.

***UPDATE***

So tonight went somewhat much better than before. I know he is hungry now because I heated a rat really good this time with really hot water. As soon as I dangled it in front of him he struck at it. The sad part is that he hit it sort of like a punching bag and it swayed and hit him right back. Maybe I shouldn't hold the rat by the tail with the tongs... lol
Now he is sticking his head out of his hide staring at the rat I left right in front of him. Tried zombie dancing for a minute before leaving it. Hopefully he eats it tonight. I'm gonna leave it in for another 30 minutes and refreeze it. Or should I try leaving it overnight?

[blaze]

I decided to refreeze the rat pup. Hopefully things will go better next Sunday night. I think I'll try holding the rat again by the neck next time. lol

[KMG]

Silly snake. What I have done in the past is once you have your snakes attention. Put the feeder on a flat open spot in the cage where it will have room to strike. Then i would just poke and wiggle the feeder while it's laying on cage floor, from the side opposite of the snakes approach. That way it can strike and it won't suddenly fall or swing back and hit him.

[Fidget]

Sorry I haven't been replying much. Had a very busy week.

***UPDATE***

The sad part is that he hit it sort of like a punching bag and it swayed and hit him right back. Maybe I shouldn't hold the rat by the tail with the tongs... lol

LOL!! Sorry for your snake's misfortune, but you might have just saved me the next big flub when I offer F/T again....so thanks!

Good luck to you. I'm trying to get mine to take F/T for the first time, and kept accidentally smacking the side of the tub with the hair dryer. I'm sure that really calmed her down and made her feel safe around the scary frozen rat pup!

[blaze]

Silly snake. What I have done in the past is once you have your snakes attention. Put the feeder on a flat open spot in the cage where it will have room to strike. Then i would just poke and wiggle the feeder while it's laying on cage floor, from the side opposite of the snakes approach. That way it can strike and it won't suddenly fall or swing back and hit him.

Thanks! I'll try this.

- - - Updated - - -

LOL!! Sorry for your snake's misfortune, but you might have just saved me the next big flub when I offer F/T again....so thanks!

Good luck to you. I'm trying to get mine to take F/T for the first time, and kept accidentally smacking the side of the tub with the hair dryer. I'm sure that really calmed her down and made her feel safe around the scary frozen rat pup!

lol Thanks! Good luck to you too!