Hamster for bp

[Ziggy31984]

I have tried offering f/t he will not take it and I keep an eye during feeding time so right when it happens if the meal bites I can take it out if/when he doesn’t want it


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[dakski]

I would not do it. I assume your BP is healthy otherwise? If so, the answer is a strong NO.

1. BP's can go off food. Normal. He will eat when he is ready. If what you were feeding prior worked, it will work again.

2. BP's imprint on food items. If he eats a hamster and likes it, he may not eat rats easily again. There are stories of people feeding 5 mice to their BP in a feeding because they could not switch them to rats. Another reason why I encourage people not to feed African Soft Fur (ASF) rats. ASF are BP's food in the wild and they love them, but you might not be able to source them easily for the life of your BP. I've heard of people who switch to ASF and it takes years to switch their BP back to "normal" rats.

Play it safe, stick with what works, and he will come around.

[Bogertophis]

I have tried offering f/t he will not take it and I keep an eye during feeding time so right when it happens if the meal bites I can take it out if/when he doesn’t want it


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You are not faster than a defense-biting rodent. Hope you (& your snake) don't learn the hard way. Rodent bites can kill snakes- either a bite in a bad place or by infection. Prevention is best.

[Malum Argenteum]

I have tried offering f/t he will not take it and I keep an eye during feeding time so right when it happens if the meal bites I can take it out if/when he doesn’t want it

A snake that will take live but not FT will often take a prekilled rodent. Some snakes that don't take FT (or better: some instances of snakes not taking FT) are due to the fact that the snake doesn't like something about the particular source of the rodent; often enough, switching sources (a different store that buys from some other rodent producer) is enough to get the snake feeding on FT. More on that below:


[QUOTE=Ziggy31984;2789086]Thank you this isn’t his first hunger strike with me and the occasional is around thanksgiving, Christmas and birthday thing and now when there not the size rat that I’m looking for I have noticed that he started liking smallish rats he was getting medium before a few months ago to last year as long as he’s healthy,eats when he wants and hopefully happy that’s all I care
/QUOTE]

A male BP is likely best on small rats anyway, and the smaller prey items have some tendency to keep a snake from refusing food.

Related to this and the 'different rodent source' issue: buying a bag or two of frozen rats from a quality online supplier (which as far as I've figured out at this point is Perfect Prey and no others) will both help avoid the occasional 'doesn't like this source' risk and also eliminate the issue of not finding the size you're looking for locally. Having rats shipped is not as expensive as a person might think, though the benefit to the snake would be worth extra money anyway.