Second Feeding attempt!

[sapphire_moon]

Well tomorrow (friday) is going to be my second feeding attempt to Prana (female baby bp) and I am so nervous! Does anyone have any techneque (sp??) styles they would like to share??? Any ideas or opinions would be great!!!!
:w :p

[Mike P]

Mine BP doesnt like its food shoved right in its face. I let him see it from the otherside of the enclosure. Then he knows its there and he will come get it when hes ready( usually right away! But if the food item gets to close too fast he will get scared ball up and might not take it for an hour or two.

[sapphire_moon]

hmm never thought of that! Anyone else got any ideas???? Anything would be appreciated!

[lilyskip]

Huxley ate when I held the food right in front of his nose, really still (except for my hand that was nervously shaking slightly). It was about 3mm from his face. He moved twice before he took it...don't give up! Remember to keep it pretty still--Hux got ultra-freaked whenever the food touched any part of his body.

Also, I fed him at night about half an hour to an hour after he'd woken up on his own and had already become pretty active hunting around the tank. I left him in his own enclosure instead of moving him to a feeding tank, too. This seemed to stress him out less (he's about 2months old). Keep us posted!

[sapphire_moon]

I will let everyone know how it went....I'm just so anxious for her to eat! Grrrrrr I can't wait!!! It's tempting to try tonight, but I'm going to put her on the same feeding scheduel as Damballah (my male bp) every friday. I can't wait!!

[Colonel SB]

Sapphire here are a few tips for you....

1) If your BP is not eating DO NOT handle it....Stress Stress Stress
2) Tong feed just holf the prey item in fron of it's face the slight movments of your hand are good enough most times to envoke a strike.
3) Leave the PK food item in the cage over night your BP could be shy and not want you to watch.

[Big Mike]

I agree with Colonel, don't handle it at all. In fact you could even cover the enclosure so that the snake does not see anyone or anything.

Don't try to feed it too often...keep the stress level as low as posible. Maybe try every 4-5 days.

Keep trying to feed F/T (if that's what you are doing). I find that sometimes my BP will ignore a dead mouse but will eat it if left over night. If, after thawing, I dunk the mouse into hot water...my BP usually goes right for it.

If dead does not work after trying many different tricks...you may have to try live. If it does come to this, first try a live fuzzy mouse or one that is too small to bite your snake. If the snakes takes that, follow right up with a dead bigger mouse. A lot of snakes will get into "feeding mode" once they do finally eat something. If you can get it into feeding mode and then get it to eat a dead mouse...maybe it will start to learn that even dead prey is food.

Good Luck.

[sapphire_moon]

Well Prana refused again :( I hope that she will not make a habbit of this. I will try again next friday. But Damballah my male BP took his 3rd (4th maybe) small rat....Not med size, but not large either...Now I'm kinda waiting for him to go to the bathroom!! He pee's more than he poops! Jeeze poor pillow cases. I've went through about 3 of them this month! lol

[Big Mike]

Pillow cases? why not use paper towels or newspaper.

[sapphire_moon]

I only use pillow cases over the UTH, and that has news papers underneath. I found that if I just put a thin layer of news paper over the uth it gets way to hot. Plus a pillow case seems to be more soft.....

[Linds]

Must stress the importance of controlling the UTH itself, not just covering it with more substrate. The snake can find its way under and still get burned, as well it is an increased fire hazard at that temperature! :firestart

[sapphire_moon]

no can't get under the substrate! It is held down by his half log. Never had any problems with it the temp before. And he likes to lounge in there during the day, cruise at night, go to the cool hide for a while, then when the shades are opened goes back to the "hot hide".......:)

[sapphire_moon]

Well an update. I've kept Prana (My new baby BP) covered. She seems more comfortable with coming out of her hides and trying to find an escape hole! I'm thinking about putting a f/t mouse in there in a couple of days, and I was wondering. If I thaw out a mouse and leave it in there for about 8 hrs (depending on when I wake up) is it ok to refreeze it again, or should I just throw it away? I've heard of people refreezing their mice again after they thaw it, but they never put a time on how long it stayed thawed.....

[Big Mike]

Don't think that your snake can not get under the substrate...it just has not done so yet. You seem to care very much for your snake...why not buy a $20 lamp dimmer to make the enclosure safe for your snake?

[sapphire_moon]

He has never gone underthere before....after 2 years. I don't think he will try.