I purchased a farmed baby blood back in September and at first she was pretty defensive...to the point she'd snap at anything that breathed on her. This came in really handy when she refused live, prekilled and thawed frozen rodents the first two weeks I had her and I figured I would use her defensive strikes on her food. It worke wonderfully I would tease her to the point she would continually strike and when she landed the prekilled rodents head I would shake it a bit and it triggered contriction and a feeding response.
After few months of growth (she had 3 sheds and is now about 2.5' long with good weight) and gentle handling she is as tame a kitten and as trustworthy as most cornsnakes or ball pythons....the problem is she no longer defensively strikes her food and therefore she has cease to voluntarily eat (In the last 3 weeks that is). Now to get her to eat I have to put the dead rodents head in her mouth, then I gently put her down and she continues to swallow. Anyone else experience this or can offer any advice?
