He struck and bit!

I admit, I've started to get a bit stressed about getting Escher to eat. As I said in my first post, I got him to strike once, but I jumped and jerked, and that was the end of his interest. I've tried a couple of times since, leaving at least 36 hours between attempts. One try was to put the mouse in his 'other' hide - he prefers the one on the cool side. He did a beeline for the warm-side hide and went it - but the next morning I found the mouse outside the hide. <sigh>

I also tried, just today, placing him in a small dark container (in fact, the box in which he came home) with a prepared mouse. I left for a couple of hours, came back - and the snake and mouse were still in the box. I took him from the box, handled him briefly and placed him back in his enclosure. Then, not really expecting much but feeling the need to try, I took the mouse in a hemostat and offered it.

I learned something from a video that's on one of the stickies: I presented the mouse by holding its body rather than its tail. This allowed me to orient the mouse as though it was 'facing' the snake. I moved it about, sliding it on the substrate (newspaper), thinking the aural stimulus might help as much as the possible scent from rubbing. I moved it back and forth, from side to side in front of his head, and the side to side seemed to get the most reaction. All this was a couple of inches in front of him.

After a bit, seeing his tongue going but no other reaction, I started moving the mouse further away, still moving it from side to side and sliding it along the substrate. Suddenly, I saw his body go into the striking position. I steeled myself for the strike so I wouldn't jerk away again, and kept moving the mouse. Suddenly, it happened! It was almost too fast to see, but there he was with the mouse in his mouth. I quickly but carefully (and as quietly as possible) closed the top of the enclosure, turned off the room light and left.

OK, for those of you who've owned snakes forever, this is boring as all get out. But I'm thrilled that it looks like he's going to eat. According to the pet store's records, we're nearly at four weeks since he last ate. That video was helpful, but it showed mature BPs. I'm learning to feed a young snake in a new home, and I hope my account will help other newbies who are fretting, "How do I get him/her to eat?" No, I don't have the answer - just my own newbie experience to share.