Dropping my feeder in substrate!

[Zincubus]

Ok, a few things: first, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

1) assuming you're talking mice fuzzies, they're WAY too small for a BP. BPs eat hoppers right out of the egg for their first few meals, typically only 3-5 meals and quickly move up to small adult mice.

2) are you using feeding tongs? If not, you should be. You'll find an appropriately sized prey item will be easier to hold as well, not much to grab into with fuzzies.

3) I keep a tub of hot water with me while feeding. If the prey item gets too cool I simply dip it in again til it's warm enough.

4) ARE YOU SURE the prey is warm enough when you're offering? The prey item should be around 100°. If you're unsure if you're getting it warm enough use your temp gun to check.

5) don't offer on back to back days. That will just stress the snake and lead to more refusals.
Wait at least 5 days between offerings.

6) you CAN leave the prey item. But I would iffer from tongs first. If the snake doesn't strike, reward the prey, set it and walk away. Some BPs really require privacy when they eat.

7) DEFINITELY don't use a seperate feeding tub. Feeding tubs are old school and proven counter productive over time.
Feeding tubs increase the chance of refusals, increase the chance of regurgitation and increase your chances of being bitten.

So, now that I've tackled what was in your thread, please tell us more about your setup. The more you tell us the better we can help.
There are two major reasons a new snake will refuse food. 1) husbandry and 2) stress.

Starting with husbandry...
- what size and type enclosure?
- how are you heating the enclosure?
- are all heat sources REGULATED BY A THERMOSTAT?
- what are your temps? How and where are you measuring the temps?
- are properly sized hides offered? How many?

Now on to stress...
- are you handling the snake at all? Handling (especially new snakes) stresses the snake. Stress = refusals.
- is the enclosure in a quiet area in the house?


Answering these questions will help us help you, and of course, your new snake

Simply put some paper / card down over the substrate and feed over the card ... also try heating with a hairdryer a split second before offering to the snake .. feed at night and in low /dim light ..


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