full grown mouse with baby bp

[Caimen13]

Since i have had my baby bp i was told to feed him pre-killed prey.I tried this many many times and he would not eat it.....Finaly i tried a live mouse(full grown)he is 17 inches long and his neck is less than an inch long but he swallows the whole mouse!I feen him one every week,is this to much?So far he has been fed 4 time...:rolleyes:

[BoidKeeper]

Once a week is fine and an adult mouse is fine. I would suggest that you switch to fresh kill or stunded from tongs. There is no reason to feed live. Frozen thawed is preferd but if you tried alll the tricks at he wont take it then at least switch to fresh kill. Wack then offer it from tongs. This way your snake wont get bit. You will also want to switch to rats as soon as possible. If he gets a tast for mice it will be hard to feed him mice when he is a 4 foot snake.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Caimen13]

ok,I see,but he only takes things that are moving....You said rats,are baby rats the size of a full grown mouse?

[Big Mike]

You can get rats in lots of sizes. The small ones are called rat pups and you should be able to get them in a size that is appropriate for your snake.

If he only takes things that are moving...use tongs to wiggle the mouse/rat infront of his face. It may be hard but keep trying to get him on dead prey. All too often I read something like this...

"I have been feeding live for a long time without any problems but last night my snake got bit"

Good Luck

[BoidKeeper]

Big Mike coverd any other points I could make.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Invictus]

BPs are finnicky eaters at the best of times. I've seen my BCC take up to 15 minutes before he'll take the prey, and BCCs are nowhere near as finnicky. You just have to be patient and persistent.

You might also want to try positioning yourself behind the snake's head so he can't see you, but can see the mouse. Also (I posted this in another thread), one thing I've tried that works every time is to dangle the mouse beside their head instead of in front of the snake's face. I don't own a BP, but that works with my BCC. Never hurts to try, right?

[Caimen13]

will do...should i get him frozen baby rats to get him used to rats?

[BurmBaroness]

WHat I would suggest is feeding prekilled mice, for 2-3 feeds, then switching to frozen/thawed. Then, when he's eating well with f/t, you can try to switch to rats. Too many switches at once could make him a nonfeeder.

[killaclown]

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
Once a week is fine and an adult mouse is fine. I would suggest that you switch to fresh kill or stunded from tongs. There is no reason to feed live.

I oppose that, there are some snakes that strikly feed live(like mine). All you have to do is watch it eat. Once my snake smells the food he strikes at the first thing that moves.Including my hand

[tHeGiNo]

This kind of thing is what has lead me to believe BP's are not a begginers snake. A lot of newbies tend to not try hard enough to switch over, and feed live as a quick fix so to say.

[BoidKeeper]

Once my snake smells the food he strikes at the first thing that moves.Including my hand
If he stricks that readily then I'm sure he would strick at fresh killed or stunned. I also heat the rats sometimes with a heat gun up to 90 and that always helps to stimulate a feeding responce.
Trevor

[Reptile1]

tommorow is feeding day,ill tell you what happends,just incase i buy i frozen mouse and one live...