Fasting or Not?

[Darwin99]

1. BP's fast, usually in the winter. Not all, but many do (as adults - growing babies can be more ravenous eaters than adults for sure, but not always). It's okay, as long as everything else is ok (temp, humidity, access to hides, appropriate enclosure, etc.). My BP (female) fasts every winter for 4-6 months. She's 5 and has done it for 3 years now. She eats when she is ready and usually loses between 5-8% of her body weight. She still drinks, passes urine and urate, etc.

They say males do it more than females, but my female happily fasts in the winter.

If your guy is 1300G, I assume he is an adult, correct? If by some weird chance, he is still young, you might be slightly more concerned, but that sounds like a good sized boy who can fast no problem.

Everything may be fine. Likely much harder on you than on him.

2. Don't force him to eat. Mine can be shy, and often won't strike, and I will leave for up to an hour or two. She's an established eater. Some say leave all night, but I know my BP; if she doesn't eat in an hour or so, she isn't going to. Trying to get him interested in food can actually turn him off more and make him less likely to eat. Offer on your regular schedule, or less, but definitely not more. I offer every 1 week normally, but usually a little less when she is fasting. Say every two weeks.

3. I am not sure you are defrosting the prey item appropriately.

I let thaw in room temp/slightly warm to start water. NEVER HOT. Not even body temp (for humans lol). I only warm the water a little during defrost if it's a huge prey item - not the case with BP's. A male BP should be eating large "small" rats, or smaller medium rats. They should defrost in room temp water in under 2 hours. Give or take.

Then, once completely thawed, you can use a hair dryer, or I prefer, hot water, to warm up the rat. I use hot, not boiling or close, water from the tap. Generally not more than 120F. I put the rat in for 30 seconds or so, take out, dry fast, and then offer.

The key is you do not want to cook the rat at all. Snakes eat raw food. Even slightly cooked may lead to refusal, and isn't good for the snake. They are designed to eat raw and do not process cooked food well.

You said you heat up the rats in hot water. Not clear how you defrost, but wanted to be clear, do not cook at all. I use a sous vide to cook meat at home for family consumption (human consumption). You can cook a pork chop in 1 1/2 hours at 130F. A rat will start to cook in hot water in much less time.

If I am overdoing it on defrosting, and you are doing it right. Just give him time.

As I mentioned earlier; he's probably fine.

Thanks for the quick response! You very well could be right that my defrosting process is a little flawed, so I can change that. I usually fill a container with hot water, pretty much as hot as the tap will go, then plop the rat-in-bag into it. I wait until the rat is defrosted right through, the I fry it off and feed him. In the future, after doing some reading- I think that I'll put the food item in the fridge the night before, to thaw. Then I can heat it up with warm water, and then to realistic body temps with the hairdryer. Sound good? I'll feed probably next Friday, maybe Wednesday depending on what I think at the time.