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Thread: BP Not Eating

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  1. #5
    BPnet Senior Member cchardwick's Avatar
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    What do you feed her and how do you prepare the rodents? I use fresh kill now, I used to feed frozen thawed but if you give them one that smells off, is a bit freezer burned, not the right temp, or even a little cold / frozen in the middle or too hot / cooked that will make them go off of feed. I've had it happen several times. With fresh killed I get more consistent feeding. If using frozen thawed make sure they are fresh and the right temps before feeding. Often times you can increase the rodent temps a bit and encourage them to eat. If my fresh killed cool off I put them in the incubator at 110F for about ten minutes before I feed. I also had one freak out by not grabbing a live rodent very good and I finally had to take it away and try feeding live again. I won't do that anymore, a rodent bite or bad experience with a live one can make them go off.

    How long have you had the snake in the current setup? Sometimes when I get a new snake they will eat for a few months, then go on a fast sometimes for months before they really accept and adapt to their new environment. What is your substrate? A dirty substrate will keep them from eating too...

    What does your setup look like? I find that for my snakes a rack system seems to give the most natural environment, totally enclosed, dark and secure. I used to have issues when I kept them in glass aquariums, but now that they are in the rack they all eat like pigs LOL.

    So many variables... Have you had a male in there? That will make a female go off of feed most times. I've also found that if I push a snake to eat too aggressively such as chasing the snake around with the rodent, even for more than 10 seconds or so, they tend to get scared of the rodents and go off of feed. Now I limit the pushing / rubbing on the snake to just about 10 seconds max. If they don't eat after 30 seconds total I move to the next snake. If they strike and miss you can usually rub the rodent on them and they will grab it, otherwise don't push it. I have a couple snakes that tend not to eat since I tried once to push them too hard.

    What time of day do you feed? Try feeding at 10 PM. What size rodent? Some won't take them much bigger than the size of their widest belly. Also try an adult mouse or ASF vs. rat.
    Last edited by cchardwick; 01-02-2017 at 11:33 PM.


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