Off food... assist feeding?

[Slim]

I took it as good advice as he is a very accomplished breeder. I take it this is a bad idea? I'll look into it more on the forum when I am home at the pc.

I'm not gonna' tell you it's a bad idea, but it sure isn't a great idea. Your snake is in no danger of starving to death at this time...not even close. Now you have very likely multiplied your problems.

Being an accomplished breeder is in the eye of the beholder...Just because someone keeps and breeds snakes, it does not make them an expert (especially in the BP business where every 13 year old on YouTube is a breeder), and it does not mean they have experience with all aspects of BP husbandry. And, I throw myself under that same bus. Neither I, nor anyone else here is the Oracle. Learning to do your own research is the most important skill you will ever develop.

Did your breeder friend tell you any of the following?

BPs have a very bad habit of imprinting on gerbils once they've been given one. Sometimes they will NOT switch back to ANYTHING else. So here are the risk factors you bring on yourself when you feed gerbils:

1) If your snake is now a gerbil crack addict (yes, it can happen after only one, just like heroine), you will need to feed it gerbils for the rest of ever. Not a problem you say? Cool. Not sure how much gerbils sell for in your neck of the cosmos, but in mine, feeding gerbils is a very expensive proposition.

2) Gerbils can be aggressive and the adults have very sharp teeth. Even supervised feedings are more of a risk with gerbils.

3) Lets say your snake, who has been on a fast, refuses to eat a rat next time...and the time after that...and the time after that. Now you've compounded your troubleshooting because now you don't know if it's just a continuation of her fast, or if she will now only eat gerbils. So she skips rats a few times, and you give in and go buy another gerbil...the cycle just gets worse from there.

If your breeder buddy didn't enlighten you to the risks involved with feeding gerbils, then he did you no favors. Every piece of advice has two sides. Your job, as your animal's keeper, is to find out what those sides are with every piece of advice you seek, and them make informed decisions about your animal's care.