My 4 1/2 ft. BP was lost by the vet in August. At that time he'd been treated for injury/infections acquired before I got him. His weight was at 1500 then. After spending two very chilly (in Florida here-ACs on high) months in central A.C. loose in that huge vet clinic he was found & returned to me at weight 1250. The vet rehydrated him, but he still drank & drank & drank when I got him back in his cage. Then awhile later I found urine matter.
I always fed him ft, but I went & bought fk because the vet said he couldn't get him to eat. I let him rest a few hours, and offered him a small-med (4" nose to butt) fk rat (still warm)...which he didn't hestitate on. I was careful to watch him because frankly I was concerned on how weak he seemed. Sure as heck he seemed to have more trouble than usual getting it down, but he got it down. Drank more. I waited awhile & offered him a second rat same size, and he ate it too. He kept looking around like he wanted #3, but I didn't want to over do it, so I backed off.
Since then (yesterday) he's been basking under his light and on a heat pad set at 84. He's always refused the nice hides I have in there & doesn't like the warm end. (I have him in a 48" Precision cage, hollow stump hide cool end, lg rock hide warm end, two big 4" across grape branches that are 18" long, water bowl he can get in if he likes, and that reptile carpet) He keeps returning to the water bowl and just hovering above it...then back to basking.
Any suggestions on anything else I should do to help him? Input on how soon to feed him again? I have a feeling he'll take as much as I give him. He was always a pig, but never put on the weight like I hoped. He's negative on external or internal parasites and infections. I'm probably being too worrisome over this, but I don't want to mess up.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Morg
