Interesting.....

I don't want to insult your intelligence or experience but I'm going to try to be thorough in case someone with less experience is reading this.

I may be wrong but I strongly believe that you're not just dealing with a picky eater situation. I'd bet money that the root of the issue is his emotional status.

Posted by ravenspirit: "...as a hatchling, and refused to start (eating) & required force fed... ...If I offer prey "too often" for his tastes, he simply hides from it, and will not come out, live or not, and then will skip the next feeding."

I'd guess that you rarely handle him and pretty much leave him be so you don't disturb him or stress him out. That works in some situations but not all. I'm having a hard time overlooking the possible emotional trauma from force-feeding, but he may already be over that.

* I suggest you keep his cage at 82°F on the cool side and 92° on the warm. I normally go 80° on the cool side but wouldn't in this case because I'd want to keep his metabolism up.
* Make sure humidity doesn't get below 45%.
* Remove all hides. This includes not letting him get under newspaper substrate.
* Keep cage in a low traffic area.
* Handle him once every 3 days or so. Starting out with just a few minutes each handling session. After a week or two you can handle it every other day, but I wouldn't do it every day as it can be counterproductive.

Those are pretty much the basics of taming a Burm and I'm sure you already knew how to do that. Although you're not really wanting to "tame him," you want to "earn" his trust. I don't think he trusts you. I get the impression that he thinks you're gonna shove somethin' down his throat every time you open it's cage.

Hang in there!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American


www.natures-signature.com

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