Random striking, ADHD mouse...madness

[Amaress]

'Ello everyone!

I don't know if any of you have seen anything like this before, but it's...different. I’m trying to feed my bp, but he's acting really weird about it. He seems interested in the mice, but all he's doing is striking at them, grabbing them, then letting them go, and repeating the process. In the mean time the mice are going crazy and jumping up and down and hitting the top of his cage ( I have a separate one to feed him in) and they're jumping all over him. I took one out but the same thing is still happening. Am I at a lose cause for feeding him, or is he just playing with his food?

[rabernet]

First - why is there more than one prey item in with him at the same time?


Secondly - classic signs of stress.

[JLC]

Sounds to me like he's being highly defensive and not trying to "hunt" the mice so much as he is trying to scare it away. But because they are "trapped" in a small box together, the mice have no place to go...neither they nor the snake can escape a terrifying situation.


First off...I HOPE you're not putting multiple mice into a feeding box at the same time. That is a recipe for disaster.

Second off...BP's are frequently timid hunters and much, much prefer to eat within the familiar territory of their own homes, where they can ambush prey from inside their hides.

Try feeding him inside his own cage (this will NOT cause the BP to become more aggressive toward you or mistake your hand for food any time you open the cage....that is a myth.). And make sure you only offer ONE live prey animal at a time.

[kavmon]

do a search on here on live feeding, there are right and wrong ways to feed live. make sure he is ready to eat, pre-scent the room for 15-30 min with the rodent smell,use a hide when feeding(alot of bp's like to ambush hunt) and if the snake doesn't eat right away or in an hour so, remove the rodent and try again next week. alot of bp's feed better at night also, when it's dark and quiet. a snake that is ready to eat and conditioned to eat live will only take a few seconds/minutes to do the job!



vaughn

[Amaress]

I've been putting two at a time in there with him for as long as I can remember, but I'll only put one in from now on. He's usually taken his time with eating, but never like this. I'll move him and the mouse into his cage and see if he'll take it. Thank you.

Kavmon - believe you me, it smells like rodent in here...blegh

[kavmon]

i believe you! lol. when i bring rats in the room, you can watch everyone wake up,come out of their hides and go into "feed mode".



vaughn

[JenHarrison]

Mine do the same. They also know it's feeding time because they feel the vibrations of the other tubs being opened and the "whack" when the others nab their prey. Java's usually the first one to get clued in, he's always right there and waiting. Followed closely by Spoon.

[Amaress]

He ate!!! Yay. Sucess.

[Emilio]

Same thing here the minute I come in with the rat's they freak out.And when you look in to their enclosure's they got that crazy look.Without even opening up the top they start that steady movement out of the hide.

[Ginevive]

Glad he ate
Ginger, my female, will "snake" right out of her tank after her rat, she is also pretty overzealous. What I do is just let her grab it in midair, and then she coils back into the tank to eat. Scawwy stuff though!