Rat pup

[HPMamba]

Sorry for the long post...
So I went to pick up a rat pup today for Mamba. It's only my 3rd time feeding him since I got him 2 weeks ago. The first day I got him, he hadn't eaten yet. Prev owner said he only ate asf and he had him on a good feeding schedule every sunday 2 asf. Now since there wasnt an asf available to feed him that day (or readily available period), that very next day I went to the only store here in Austin that sells live and got a pinky. Took him a whole 2 min to snatch him up. So since he ate that with no issues, last weekend I went and picked up 2 rat pups. One was black and white, the other was all white. I put the white one in and he didnt seem very interested in it. Left him in there a few minutes and then took him out and put in the black/white one and probably took him about 5 minutes to take him. Tried feeding him the 2nd one but he never was interested in it. It ended up dying, but I wasnt too worried since he had at least eaten 1. Today its feeding day again. Went to get just 1 rat pup. It's a little bigger than the last one and a lot more lively. It was crawling all over the place, even crawled on top of Mamba, which I didnt like and neither did he. So I carefully moved the rat off of him. He seemed very interested and even was in strike stance, but he lost interest and never took it. Do they care what color their prey is?? Took him out of the tub I feed him in and put him back in his tank. Does any one else ever have this happen where the rat climbs all over your bp? Thanks for any feed back.

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[DandD]

I have never had a problem with color but maybe moving him to a different tub is stressful. I'm sure one of the experienced keepers will chime in but moving him around before feeding would be my guess. There is really no proven evidence of enclosure aggression because you feed him in his full time enclosure.

[Bogertophis]

Some others (but by no means all) keeping BPs have also noticed that their BP shows a color preference when it comes to their prey. It's easy to speculate that
this could be the result of the snake previously getting bit & now the snake has a negative association with other prey of the same color, but it doesn't happen with
all BPs....it's just a guess.

FYI, it's best to feed in evening/night* hours, when BPs normally hunt. And it's best to feed them IN their normal enclosure, not in another container, as handling
before feeding can stress them into not feeding, & handling them before or after feeding is more likely to get YOU bit. *btw, dim the room lights too & keep still.

Also: BPs are ambush-hunters...most feed best when they feel safe in their hide & just peeking out: that's what they're doing...waiting for a clueless rodent to hop
on by to grab. When a snake is cruising it's cage, many feel way too exposed (they're at risk from predators when THEY stop to eat!) so they commonly refuse.

[DandD]

Some others (but by no means all) keeping BPs have also noticed that their BP shows a color preference when it comes to their prey. It's easy to speculate that
this could be the result of the snake previously getting bit & now the snake has a negative association with other prey of the same color, but it doesn't happen with
all BPs....it's just a guess.

FYI, it's best to feed in evening/night* hours, when BPs normally hunt. And it's best to feed them IN their normal enclosure, not in another container, as handling
before feeding can stress them into not feeding, & handling them before or after feeding is more likely to get YOU bit. *btw, dim the room lights too & keep still.

Also: BPs are ambush-hunters...most feed best when they feel safe in their hide & just peeking out: that's what they're doing...waiting for a clueless rodent to hop
on by to grab. When a snake is cruising it's cage, many feel way too exposed (they're at risk from predators when THEY stop to eat!) so they commonly refuse.

This is why I love these forums... I would have never thought about associating color with a negative event. This place and you guys are how new keepers like myself and daughter manage to keep snakes with almost zero issues from the start.

[cletus]

I've not experienced issues with the color of the rodent. My snakes have eaten black/white/grey etc... with no issues. My snakes also eat in the same enclosure they live in. I think it stresses them when you feed in a separate enclosure not to mention you open yourself up to getting bit because they associate moving to the new enclosure with feeding time. Just my opinion though. Its a hotly debated topic. I would look to husbandry and get that dialed in before I worried about the color of the prey.

[HPMamba]

Thank you so much everyone. Got home around 10:15pm. Went straight for the rat and dropped him in Mamba's regular tank, literally like 35 seconds he snatched it up and gone. I was starting to think he was a picky eater. Ha, nope. No issues. Oh and btw I weighed him at the zookeeper store where I buy his food and he weighs 530g. Prev owner said he was 12 months old. What do yall think?

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[DandD]

Thank you so much everyone. Got home around 10:15pm. Went straight for the rat and dropped him in Mamba's regular tank, literally like 35 seconds he snatched it up and gone. I was starting to think he was a picky eater. Ha, nope. No issues. Oh and btw I weighed him at the zookeeper store where I buy his food and he weighs 530g. Prev owner said he was 12 months old. What do yall think?

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JW if the zookeeper store has other snakes. I saw xina mention one time that taking your snake to a pet store with other snakes could open it up to mites or other sickness that's cruising around that place

[HPMamba]

JW if the zookeeper store has other snakes. I saw xina mention one time that taking your snake to a pet store with other snakes could open it up to mites or other sickness that's cruising around that place

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

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[Bogertophis]

JW if the zookeeper store has other snakes. I saw xina mention one time that taking your snake to a pet store with other snakes could open it up to mites or other sickness that's cruising around that place

Exactly... Where I live (& maybe everywhere, since it's a chain?) Petco holds "reptile rallies" where they show off pets for sale but where customers can also bring
in their own snakes etc. to share...as tempting as that is, it's another big risk for mites. And who knows what else?