Extremely worried BP first-time owner, feeding help!

[aluette]

Ok, so I made an account on this site specifically just so I could ask this question. If this thread's in the wrong place I'm sorry.

So basically I bought my first (and only) BP almost exactly a month ago, she's a cute little pewter hatched about two months ago. I bought her from an online breeder and had a little bit of communication with him before I actually bought her and he informed me she was eating live small mice, and had fed a total of 4 times before I received her. I got her the day that would have been her 5th feeding but I figured it would be fine to give her a week to settle in and whatnot.

I'm not usually a big fan of live mice, although I had a snake that used to only eat live, I fully intended to feed my new BP totally f/t. So I bought small f/t mice from LayneLabs, and tried feeding my BP a week after I got her by thawing it up, warming it up with some hot water, and wiggling it a little bit to get her to go for it. No luck. So I struck that off and decided to try again the next week. And then she didn't eat again, so the next week and so on and so on.

Essentially it's gotten to the point where my little BP is nearly 10 weeks old, and hasn't eaten in 6 weeks. I've tried everything I could find:

• Small f/t mice
• Small live mouse
• Fuzzy f/t mice
• Combinations of the f/t mice heated with either hot water or a blow drier
• Feeding the BP in 2 different feeding tubs, and in her tank
• Scenting the mouse with tuna juice
• Braining the mouse and leaving it a few inches from her hide
• Braining the mouse and leaving it in her hide
• Braining the mouse and wiggling it around, both in a separate feeding tub and in her tank

She's not afraid of the mouse, she's more just what I'd describe as uninterested! If I grab the mouse by the tail and move it around, she either just goes off and does something else or tries to climb up my arm. If I leave the mouse in the tank for a couple hours/over night she doesn't seem interested either, even when I tried putting the mouse in the opening of her favorite hide (which covered the entire length of the opening) my BP just went over the mouse to climb into her hide! I genuinely have no idea what to do anymore. I've asked for advice from friends/acquaintances with lots of BP experience and I've exhausted all their advice.

I've got her in a 40-gallon glass tank, sectioned into a 20-gallon with a hefty slab of cardboard. We use the other side to store extra substrate and climbing branches. The bottom is lined with paper towels with reptibark on top of it. I have three hides in her tank, a water dish and some tree branches and some fake vines she loves to climb on. She's active and she isn't shy. She's gotten really used to my roommates and I walking around (she's in the living room right now because it's the quietest place for her to be), and doesn't freeze up even if someone walks up close to her tank. She's very active at night and climbs around her tank from about 7:30-sunrise every night. I actually watched her drink water while I was only a few feet away today. She's not skittish and is very curious and adventurous. I heat the her tank with a UTH, and keep one hide right on top of it. The warm side of the tank hovers between 88-93 degrees, and the cool side is around 80-85. The humidity never drops below 50% and sometimes gets as high as 75% depending on what the weather is like outside.

Please, any help would be wonderful. My fiance and I are at our wits end and it's getting to the point that we've started to keep our eyes out for people in the area who would be able to take better care of her than us. But she's an absolute sweetheart, and I don't want to have to do anything like that if I don't have to. I'm sure there's got to be something I'm missing! Thanks.

[KMG]

UTHs do NOT heat the air in the tank well.

Are the temps you stated the surface temps or air temps? How or with what are you taking these readings?

Do you have the UTH on a thermostat? If NOT, UNPLUG THE UTH NOW!!!!

[aluette]

The temps I mentioned were for ground surface. Air temps are between 80-90 degrees, even at night. It's pretty warm here right now.

And yes, I have the UTH on a thermostat (It's set to only heat up to 91 degrees, and I've only seen it top out at about 94 on a really hot day here), and I have three different thermometers for the inside of the tank so I'm pretty sure I have all the right temps. I have two probe thermometers that measure ground temps on the warm side, (one from the thermostat and one from a larger thermostat that also measures air temperature and humidity.) I also have the one thermostat/hygrometer that measures the ambient air temperature. Also I check my apartment's general temperature, just to make sure the readings I'm getting from the tank's setup is right.

[KMG]

The temps I mentioned were for ground surface. Air temps are between 80-90 degrees, even at night. It's pretty warm here right now.

And yes, I have the UTH on a thermostat, and I have three different thermometers for the inside of the tank so I'm pretty sure I have all the right temps.

Great! Then the numbers seem good.

You may contacted the breeder you got the snake from and run it by them. They should be more than willing to help you out.

One thought I have is security. You may want to make sure the hides are not too large. If they are a bit big or could be smaller you can get a box of moss at the pet store and stick some in them to make the seem smaller. This can also be used to help with sheds as when you see a pending shed you can dampen the moss and it creates a nice humid hide for your snake.

Another thing that may help is covering the pain open areas of the cage to reduce what the snake can see and give the cage a more secure feeling. It may seem the snake is not afraid but you just never know.

The final thing I can think of is light. I always feed in the dark wearing a headlamp with a red or green led bulb. Make sure before you feed the snake has been in the dark for a good time and then feed as quietly as possible with as little light and movement as possible.

[locolobito]

I feed 2 of my bp's in a covered tub cause they prefer dark hunts. My other I feed in bathtub cause previous owner did that when feeding. And maybe not handle the snake for a couple days before trying to feed.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

[aluette]

KMG: We also always feed her in the dark! And all the sides of her tank are covered with cardboard except for about a foot square space on the front, which is mostly covered by a faux vine that's suction cupped on the wall. And I have tried changing the size of her hides, but her favorite continues to be a flower pot with a hole cut out of the front that I made. It's not close-fitting, but she prefers that one over her others that are more snug! I will definitely go and buy some moss though and try putting it in her other hide that's a bit big. So thanks for the advice!

locolobito: We haven't handled her at all, except for when my fiance took her out of the box we received her in to put her in the tank, and once when my roommate took her out to hold without asking first. Both times were a good 5 days before we tried feeding again. And we've tried both of those methods of feeding too.

[locolobito]

For 2 days straight my hatchling stayed on cold side cause I had made it more secure than hot side. He did not eat for a week and a half after 1st feeding. After rearranging his tank, he on his 5th meal.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

[KMG]

Well try adding the moss to the hides and leave it be for another week.

You may want to cover the open part in the cage for time being until it starts eating regularly.

I would go ahead and contact the breeder as well. Being their snake they may knew just the trick to get it back on track.

You can also add a pic of the cage and let us help you to make sure things are set up in the best way. To do that use Photobucket or the like and simply copy the "img" code. Then paste it into the text you are going to post here and the picture will appear in the thread.

[locolobito]

I'm use to my 2 oldest bp's going of feed for a minute. My normal is going on week 6 without a meal. But my hatchling had me stressed cause it is the 1st one I dealt with. I understand the frustration.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk

[locolobito]

One more thing, it could be the size of its surroundings. Tank may be too big and a little stressed from that? Other than that, I am at a loss with help.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk