First Feeding

[Bogertophis]

The breeder was drop feeding in it's tub. Now I have it in an enclosure. It's been 7 days since the last feeding. Not seeing these behaviors yet, but I'm thinking it is still scared. I guess where I'm hesitant is to leave a rat in there and have the snake get injured. This is kind of where I'm not sure what to do. The breeder fed live......my goal is to get to frozen/thawed, but this is the first feeding at home. Sorry for the dumb questions!

Not dumb questions at all- good questions! You're in a tricky place with this snake & it's best for everyone -especially the -that it goes well.

First, I would wait & watch for behaviors that indicate it's getting hungry- at night, etc. That may take another week- hopefully less- but if your snake is hungrier it may work to your advantage anyway. (so he doesn't just refuse)

I would feed live as was previously fed- & I sure hope you have a reliable local source for the right size/age of prey? FYI- baby rats (or mice) with eyes still closed* will NOT bite or defend themselves, so they're NO danger to a snake (unless you get one that's just ready to open their eyes & by the time you introduce them to the snake, their eyes are open- but they still won't be very good at defense- the risk would be minimal). You never want to spring a rodent (rat or mouse) with eyes open for a while on a snake that's only been taking them with eyes closed.

*I've bred my own rats & mice for well, decades.

Different rodent sources may have slightly different "names" for the age/sizes of prey. "Hoppers" usually have their eyes open, but a "hopper rat" would be rather large for a hatchling BP. How old is your new BP? Also, the term "hopper" usually refers to a mouse! Hopper mice are usually the "first food" for hatchling BPs- so you need to make SURE this snake was fed rats, & not mice. They don't smell or taste the same- some snakes will eat one but not the other- at least not without a lot of persuasion.

Also, a hopper mouse would be roughly the size of a less-developed "fuzzy" rat (eyes closed)- Hopper mice are also quite active, whereas a "fuzzy" rat would have motion to entice, but without being scary or risky to the snake- ie. the better choice to feed (& perhaps what they meant they were feeding?)