Quote Originally Posted by Lenny's mom View Post
Im going to go to wall mart tonight and get a new thermometer/hygrometer the vet just told me to get strips when i took him. I also typical put a small blanket over half of his tank but i will find something to block out the side's perhaps aquarium backgrounds. I would really like to build him a better home but i had to get a car this week mine broke down so moneys tight. I'm planing to going to the reptile store in a little bit and see if they have baby rats i heard they are more fating and he has been skinny since the day i got him and hasn't been eating since he started shedding.Im hopping he will tonight. Oh and i have a heat pad but no thermostat i need to order one should i stop using the heat lamp?Also i will look in to hides but unfortunately that may have to wait a week.


What should i do if he wont eat? I read somewhere that if you take the pray and rub it on there nose there instincts will kick and they will eat but im not so sure of that?
Do you have a way of raising/lowering your heat lamp's height? That will probably suffice in the mean time as a crude way of regulating your temps. I've had to do this in a pinch before. Just keep an eye on it and you should be just fine.

Refusal to eat is generally a husbandry issue, which you're in the process of working on, so once your husbandry is spot on, he should eat. A skipped meal or two, even at his size, isn't the end of the world and no reason to panic just yet. You mentioned rubbing the prey's nose. I think you are thinking about how some folks "brain" their prey items, which is essentially opening up the skulls of the mouse/rat so that brains and blood leak out. This creates more smell and it can help trigger a stronger feeding response. This is definitely worth a try. Live feeding also helps a lot too. There are a million methods out there, but I would start simple and you're on the right track so far.

Hides don't have to be anything fancy. I'd be willing to bet you have great hides just laying around your house. They can be anything from empty tissue boxes to plastic ice cream tubs, flower pots or bowls with a hole cut out. As long as it is dark and tight, your ball will love it!

Aquarium background is perfect for blacking out the sides of your tank, but anything your snake can't see through would work just fine. Be creative.