How long to wait before trying a feed again?

[NebulaJam]

Got my male BP a week ago now and he was due to be fed yesterday (Wednesday). After thawing the mouse and warming it up, my snake refused it. I left it in his enclosure with no one in the room. Came back down a few hours later and he hadn’t eaten it so I’ve took it out and threw it away. Just wondering how long I should wait before offering food again? I know BP’s have a bad rep for being picky eaters, but he never once missed a meal with the breeders and I’m using the same size prey. Thanks in advance.

[Absololol]

Hey.

I'd say a minimum of 5 days but ideally another 7. He won't starve for 7 more days and reptiles are often slow to settle in. Double check your husbandry and temps, and try again in 5 days minimum.

Some tips:

Try to feed in the dark at night, they are nocturnal so have an instinct to feed when it's dark.

Minimise your presence. If you can, stand as far 'behind' your snake as possible, holding the mouse ahead of you with tongs. Some snakes will not eat if they are nervous, and your heat signature will be a big tell even in the dark.

You can try defrosting the feeder in the same room and 'braining' the rodent by sticking a toothpick through its skull. This will release a scent of blood and brain matter, which can trigger a stronger feeding response.

Heat up the feeder with a hairdryer to around 37c, rodents have a fast metabolism and are very hot, and pythons have heat sensing pits, the heat will hopefully induce a feeding response.

Hold the rodent by the body with tweezers and not the tail. In the wild, mice don't hang down from above.


These are just what helped me - every snake is different.

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[Craiga 01453]

Hey.

I'd say a minimum of 5 days but ideally another 7. He won't starve for 7 more days and reptiles are often slow to settle in. Double check your husbandry and temps, and try again in 5 days minimum.

Some tips:

Try to feed in the dark at night, they are nocturnal so have an instinct to feed when it's dark.

Minimise your presence. If you can, stand as far 'behind' your snake as possible, holding the mouse ahead of you with tongs. Some snakes will not eat if they are nervous, and your heat signature will be a big tell even in the dark.

You can try defrosting the feeder in the same room and 'braining' the rodent by sticking a toothpick through its skull. This will release a scent of blood and brain matter, which can trigger a stronger feeding response.

Heat up the feeder with a hairdryer to around 37c, rodents have a fast metabolism and are very hot, and pythons have heat sensing pits, the heat will hopefully induce a feeding response.

Hold the rodent by the body with tweezers and not the tail. In the wild, mice don't hang down from above.


These are just what helped me - every snake is different.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

I agree with most of the above, with the exception of "braining". I've actually never heard of this actually working in the 20 years or so I've been around this hobby.


Make sure you're getting the prey good and warm. Use your temp gun to make sure it's heated up to approx 100°. Keep in mind smaller prey cold quickly so you may have to reheat and offer more than once.

Wait at least 5 days to offer again.

[Absololol]

I agree with most of the above, with the exception of "braining". I've actually never heard of this actually working in the 20 years or so I've been around this hobby.


Make sure you're getting the prey good and warm. Use your temp gun to make sure it's heated up to approx 100°. Keep in mind smaller prey cold quickly so you may have to reheat and offer more than once.

Wait at least 5 days to offer again.

It seemed to work for me but it could also have been many of the other factors and practices at work.

Obviously snakes being ambush predators makes the concept of braining pretty silly but it's fairly easy to give a shot just in case. You have lots of experience so you're probs the one to listen to here.

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[Craiga 01453]

It seemed to work for me but it could also have been many of the other factors and practices at work.

Obviously snakes being ambush predators makes the concept of braining pretty silly but it's fairly easy to give a shot just in case. You have lots of experience so you're probs the one to listen to here.

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Hmmmm... Interesting. I'm curious now. Even us old experienced folk can still learn. I am curious if the snake would have eaten regardless of if the braining was actually a "selling point" so to speak. Has the snake eaten without braining since?
Thanks for sharing!!!

[Naginii]

I agree with the others. When my snake went on a hunger fasting I offered once per week. I chose to feed live during that time so that I didn't have to waste a mouse each time. I tried from late August until she ate beginning of January. Now she is eating again and I am going to do a few more weeks of live before trying to switch back to F/T. I want to make sure she is eating well first.

[Absololol]

Hmmmm... Interesting. I'm curious now. Even us old experienced folk can still learn. I am curious if the snake would have eaten regardless of if the braining was actually a "selling point" so to speak. Has the snake eaten without braining since?
Thanks for sharing!!!

Actually she hasn't! Last time I did the dead dance, and she was interested but not biting. No problem, I'll reheat and try braining it. Brained and reheated and she instantly took it.

Could have been that it just was slightly warmer, she could have been a bit slow... Might not have been the braining!

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[larryd23]

Weigh your snake regularly and keep a record of those weights. We use a Cuisinart Digital Kitchen Scale, model KFS-1W ($20 on Amazon), which automatically adjusts for tare weight.

Not eating isn't really a problem, so long as they aren't losing significant weight.

[Midwest]

Just curious, since you just got the BP how old/what size is it and what was the breeder/previous owner feeding it? Mine was about 4 month old when I got it and had only been fed live. I chose to continue to feed live the first three weeks to help keep it's stress down, then started the transition to f/t. If it was already on f/t then as others have said try again next week. If it was eating live I would try that since it's in a new home and the less stress the better.