Partial feeding success tonight....

[Dianne]

Dianne,

How old is Artemis and how much does he weigh?

I switched a 10 year old, wild caught BP, with a mild RI, that I was fostering, into eating F/T. You can probably switch Artemis as well, if that's what you want. You just have to be more patient than he is stubborn, without risking his health.

Also, not sure what the weather has been in Virginia, or if that's a major factor, but Shayna (Female 6 year old Albino Spider BP) started her winter fast 7 weeks ago. That might be a factor too.

Glad Belle ate for you!

I know you've been keeping snakes for a while, but not sure if F/T is a new thing for you. I have a step by step process (a list) of how to properly defrost a frozen rodent. I will only send if you request as I don't want to seem condescending. You've been keeping snakes as long as I have.

Keep us in the loop.

Hi Dave,

I was told Artemis was hatched in 2015, she’s 1388 grams as of 10/29/18. Thanks to folks here, I just bought a scale to track her weight. This way I’ll have a better idea on weight loss/gain going forward. In the past I’ve always just used visual inspection of body condition.

Typical Virginia weather has been bouncing around a bit for the past month or so, but more cool days (60’s and some 50’s) than warm ones (70’s) with overnight temps lower (40’s and 50’s with several nights in the low 30’s). I’ve had the house heat on since the first cool night...I don’t like being too cool either. lol I considered she may be fasting, but my room temps have stayed pretty consistent (74-75) with the cage temps regulated. I use lights in the room to offset the seasonal changes, though that isn’t foolproof.

No worries about seeming condescending, we’re all here to share info. I’ve been feeding f/t for about 18 years. Started keeping boas in 1991, switched to prekilled somewhere around 1996-1997 after my Bci got bitten, and switched to f/t around 1999-2000. I thaw in bags in lukewarm water, switching to hot-ish tap water to bring them up to temp just prior to feeding. That said, I just learned about the hair drier trick here and tried that out on her in case the water temp wasn’t warm enough for her tastes. No luck.

I’ve had a few that were harder to switch than others, but time and patience have paid off. Most of mine will not eat anything left on the cage floor, but will readily take a slowly moving rodent held in front of them. I think my biggest concern with her stems from her being new, so I don’t know what her prior feeding habits were other than she was fed live. If this was my adult male bp, I wouldn’t think twice because he occasionally goes on fasts. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a bit of a worrier. I also haven’t handled her except when necessary for cage cleaning, so she hasn’t had the opportunity to get used to my scent...I’m just the giant moving around the room.