underfed 7 year old feeding advice

[JackTar]

I just rehomed an unwanted 7 year old normal BP. He was only being fed 1 mouse per month so he's skinny. I'm assuming he's a male because he doesn't seem big enough to be a 7 year old but that could be just because he's skinny. He had a stuck on shed that I was able to help him out with yesterday but his eyes are still dimpled. Would that be a stuck on eye cap that should shed off during his next shed now that he's being housed properly?

The main question is, I'm going to feed him a small rat tonight and start feeding him rats every 2 weeks. I'm going to put a frozen mouse in with the rat when I thaw the rat out in order to put the mouse scent on him. Do you think that if I also fed him the mouse, would that be too much? I'm thinking it'll be ok for this meal and just stick with rats from here on out? Any advice?

[bcr229]

Dimpled eyes could mean dehydration rather than eye caps.

Don't count on it being a male because of the size. I was given a small five year old male normal named "Dr. Zoidberg" by a kid going to college whose parents didn't want to deal with it while he was away at school; he was being fed a small rat every 2-3 weeks. My free BP was renamed "ZB" shortly afterward and gave me nine beautiful eggs earlier this year after putting on about 600 grams.

If the snake is hungry enough converting to rats should be a snap.

[blk02ssmonte]

If it is skinny start smaller and work up. I would feed once a week. Start with a rat crawler, yes it might be small but do that once a week till he gets some weight back. After couple weeks move it up to a small rat once a week. As far as the eye caps..if the humidity is good they should come back. The dents or dimples are usually from lack of humidity not a stuck shed. Get the humidity up and that should go away. Food size should be about 10% of the body weight. I am sure someone else will answer also and with more experience. I have only had bp`s about year and half....all doing great and have had most from hatchlings.

[JackTar]

I the humidity is at 85%, I'll let it drop to 70% and keep it that way until his eyes fill out. I did see him drinking from his water bowl twice today. Regular feeding should hydrate him too.

[Sirensong26]

Dimpled eyes could mean dehydration rather than eye caps.

Don't count on it being a male because of the size. I was given a small five year old male normal named "Dr. Zoidberg" by a kid going to college whose parents didn't want to deal with it while he was away at school; he was being fed a small rat every 2-3 weeks. My free BP was renamed "ZB" shortly afterward and gave me nine beautiful eggs earlier this year after putting on about 600 grams.

If the snake is hungry enough converting to rats should be a snap.

HA! Did they hatch out anything cool, out of curiosity?

[bcr229]

HA! Did they hatch out anything cool, out of curiosity?

LOL yeah I paired her with my black pastel hypo. The het hypos are the spitting image of Mom, the black pastel het hypos are... interesting. So, Mom is now officially a dinker.

[JackTar]

I fed him a small rat and an adult mouse last night and he took them with no hesitation. I checked on him today and he hardly has a buldge. I'm going to feed him a medium sized rat in seven days, wait 10 days for the following feeding, then 14 days and keep him on a 2 week schedule from then on. Like I said, 7 year old BP being fed 1 mouse per month, jeez