Help with first time feeding my baby

[td30]

I am totally new at this so I could use some advice...
I have had my baby BP for almost a week now. To this point I have not tried feeding. Pet store said he was eating well (live)and last ate on Saturday. So tonight (one week later) I tried feeding. I thought for sure he was going to eat that little sucker because he came out of his cave and right up to the mouse, but never struck it. He continued to follow, but not strike this mouse for about 1/2 hr but nothing So I pulled the mouse out. So what did I do wrong? Shoud I worry? Any suggestions? Thanks a bunch.

[reptile3]

Could try to put the bp in a container, put holes in the lid & introduce the mouse that way.

I would add the mouse in first, set the container inside the home, where it could get warm, then add the bp.

Also could be that your bp is still not settled in... have you handled your bp before you tried feeding it? sometimes that will do it, where they won't eat. Maybe there is others who can suggest other things.

But this is what I have tried, i fed my bp that way for the first 1.5 months. Now I just put the thawed mouse/rat inside his enclosure & leave him alone & he will come to it & eat it. good luck

[bsd13]

Give it another 5-7 days from the last attempt and then try again. I won't get into it right now about live vs f/t but you should consider f/t.

Just make sure the temps and the humidity is right and that your BP is comfortable. If all that is right and assuming it isn't sick the only other reason it might not eat is the infamous BP winter hunger strike.

[JASBALLS]

What did the pet store say it was eating? Sure it was mice? I wont get into live vs. f/t. But I would through in a Live rat pup next.

[frankykeno]

"Almost a week" is a relatively short time really. Don't worry, just let the little one settle in some more, don't fuss with it over a lot of handling, doublecheck your temps, humidity, hides, etc. are just right and try again next week.

In the meantime you can research here on our many threads chock full of suggestions for getting young snakes to take their first feeding with a new owner. If you aren't sure about anything, please don't hesitate to ask so you can be prepared for next week's try.

[td30]

Hey, thanks for all the help. The petstore did say he was eating live mice. I am trying to feed him a live mouse just to verify that he will in fact eat. My plan is to try to switch to f/t later. So even though it has been 8 days since he last ate, I should still wait another 5-7 days before I put that mouse back in there? Should I try the same mouse or get a different one? Thanks again all.

[frankykeno]

As long as you can keep that live mouse in a secure, proper enclosure and offer it food and water it will only be that much of a better feeder in a few days. You'll likely want to wait a few more days at least before trying again.

Pick a night of the week you would like to feed on. Try feeding later in the evening as these are nocturnal snakes and some of them aren't as interested in eating at high noon. Place the live mouse in it's container on top of your snake's enclosure about an hour before you plan to offer it (this is called pre-scenting). Let the mouse run around and the snake sense it close by for that hour, then put it in with the snake. Remember to never drop live prey directly in your snake's face. Place it on the other side of the snake's enclosure, then simply and quietly monitor the feeding. Don't hover over the snake while it hunts. This presents you in the position of a predator and a snake is not as likely to want to hunt and feed if it doesn't feel it is itself safe from predation.

In the interim don't handle this snake other than very basic cage maintenance and make sure it's enclosure is in a low traffic, quiet area of your home.

[td30]

Got it. I will try again on tuesday night. Like I said, when I tried the first time he followed it all over the place like he wanted to eat it, but never did. The other thing I was concerned about was the size of the mouse. My snake is about as big around as a quarter and about 20" long. The mouse is about the same size around if not a tiny bit larger. From what I read on other posts, this shoud be cool right? Thanks.

[td30]

He ate! I am so incredably stoked I can't even sleep. One last question though...He wanted nothing to do with the f/t (I will try to get back to those) so I gave the live another shot and that did the trick. I know I'm supposed to supervise when feeding live, but the mouse wandered into the hide and I heard the strike, but never saw it. Mouse never came back out so I know he is a gonner. I want to make sure everything went ok, but I don't want to interrupt his meal or scare him. When should I check on him?

[rabernet]

Congrats on the feed! As long as you're feeding live responsibly, you shouldn't have any problems - I've feed over 3000 live prey and never had any issues.

You can peek in on him now if you'd like. He should be happily digesting his meal. Give him 48 hours to digest his meal before handling.