BP in New 20 Gallon Setup

[JonahAndAaron]

Hi all,

I'm a little over a month into using this new 20 gallon setup. It's a clone of the recommended 20 gallon setup thread. It's got an 11 watt uth on a thermostat under the hide on the left side, and a 75 watt infrared centered on a dimmer. I have that thermometer on the right side with a probe in the hide monitoring the uth's temperature, the ambient temperature and the humidity. I recently added another thermometer/hygrometer to make sure the first one is accurate. I'm getting a consistent 90 degrees inside the hide, 80 degrees outside and around 40%+ humidity.

Here's the issue. Sol, our BP, ate the first day in the the new setup and then once a week ago. We're used to him eating 3 times a week.

He also used the hide with the uth for the first couple of weeks but now completely avoids it. He almost exclusively hangs out on the other side. He didn't have a uth in his old setup, maybe it's too weird for him.

My gut says to just wait it out and that he'll adjust, but I didn't want to go without consulting y'all and find out that I was doing something wrong that I could fix and make his life better.

He's 34" long and 740 grams.

Thanks,

Jonah

[ladywhipple02]

Eating 3 times a week?? That's a lot of viddles.

You can easily feed him one rodent a week (as long as it's the appropriate size for his girth). Some will naturally go off feed this time of year, too.

If your husbandry is right and everything's looking good with heat and humidity... just keep an eye on his weight and make sure he's not losing.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Here's the issue. Sol, our BP, ate the first day in the the new setup and then once a week ago. We're used to him eating 3 times a week.

A BP should not be eating 3 times a week especially at that size, BP in captivity are overfed, and overfeeding a male will translate in long fast.

If you want a healthy BP you should feed it nothing bigger than a small rat (75 grams max for a large male) once a week and skip a week on occasion.

At this size a 55 grams weekly is more than enough. If you feed multiple prey it should be done in one sitting.

[bcr229]

At 740 grams he won't be growing as fast as when he was a baby. Offer a small rat every 7-10 days.

You also need to measure the temperature of the glass under the hot side hide so you know exactly what the UTH is doing. If you're getting a reading of 90*F on top of the substrate then it's likely too hot on the glass, and yes, your snake will burrow or mash down the substrate and then get too warm.

[JonahAndAaron]

Good thoughts all, thanks. I didn't realize that. I figured as long as he was happily eating I should continue to feed him at the rate he was eating at.

He's never expressed an interest in the small rats so we've kept to the large mice, that's why the 3 times a week. Thanks for the guidelines regarding grams per week. I'll monitor that more closely once he starts eating again. After this long of a fast maybe he'll want to give small rats a shot.

What are your thoughts regarding when I should offer him food again? I offered him a mouse last night. Would it make sense to wait a week and try again? And would you offer a mouse next or try a small rat the next time?

Regarding the heating probe placement, I'll make sure it's on the glass, thanks.

Best,

Jonah

[GoingPostal]

Check the surface directly above the uth with a temp gun, not just a thermometer probe. I'd wait a week to offer food again and only feed once a week max. I feed small rats to my male.