Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a 2 y/o BSTP at a show two months ago and she hasnt eaten yet. I moved her to a tub 4 days ago. She is on cypress, her humidity is 80%, her temps are 87 on hot side and 81 on cool. She has a hide and water dish big enough for her to get in and soak. I had her in a glass tank with a screen lid but moved her to a tub. Like I said I moved her on the 5th, so how long should I wait to feed her. She is in my snake room so I cannot completely isolate her, so should I cover her tub also. Its a clear plastic tub.

Bloods are usually aggressive eaters but they can be stubborn at times. In my experience Bloods can take longer to acclimate to new surroundings and can stress easily. They don't like wide open spaces and like to hide by nature, so moving her out of that glass tank was a good idea. Covering part of that tub wouldn't hurt. Temp wise bloods often seek cooler temps. Try dropping the hot spot down to 85-86 and in turn get a lower cool zone. Not knowing your experience I am trying to offer some suggestions for help. I would try feeding her anytime now. Do feed her in her cage. If feeding frozen thawed rodents I would feed one on the small size for her first meal. Really warm up that rodent as heat will trigger the feeding response in bloods and has worked well for me with reluctant feeders. I have found that bloods don't like a lot of motion when food is presented. With a boa bumping the rodent on snakes nose usually results in a quick strike and wrap. Bumping a blood usually results in it not eating. I hold the rodent with tongs very still about one to two inches from the blood's nose. When they pick up on the heat they strike strongly. Bloods are nocturnal and I have had best result feeding at night. One that was stubborn to get eating was resolved when I would turn out the lights in the snake room and feed him in the dark. Interesting to say the least but he would take a warm rat with a vengeance in the dark. In my experience I have not had any good luck with just leaving a F/T rodent in with a blood over night. They seem to ignore it when it cooled down. Once you get her eating, she will eat regularly day or night. I wish you all the best with her and please ask if I can be of more help. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.

Thanks for your advice. She actually finally ate last night. I added a cool side hide which she immediately went to and stayed about 3 days ago. I switched to a smaller round water bowl, lowered the temps to about 85 on the hot. Put a live white mouse in there and it touched her nose then she paused for about a second and then preceded to grab it with such force I think it died from just the bite. She wrapped her neck around the mouse and I jumped for joy. Scared the ever loving crap out me but it really felt like winning the lottery. You are the second person that has said to use smaller size meals and that worked. The night before I tried a brained thawed rat and she never even glanced at it. I think I was just fooled by her size. Shes a big bodied snake so I stubbornly assumed that she needed big meals. Never even considered that she would take small ones. Should I offer more mice? Or will 2 or 3 at a feeding be enough. I only gave her one lastnight because I was weary that she would not eat and all my other snakes have already eaten and I didnt want to get stuck with a live mouse. Made the mistake of letting my daughter see the last live rat I tried and she still has it and named it breakfast. Anyway thanks soo soo much.
P.S.
About her temps, there is this guy called Aaron S on [url ban].com that fought and fought with me about temps. Said I was wrong and anyone else that says bloods like cool temps was idiots. He actually banned me over it. I guess her feeding at cooler temps now is just coincidence huh. This is why their is so much confusion and in fighting in the reptile hobby. No one wants to admit that they dont know everything. These are wild animals that we have caged and moprhed and who knows what else. No one knows it all, and sometimes advice should be taken. Again thanks so much man.

That is wonderful news and I am so glad she ate !!!

You did great and my next suggestion was to try live. Over the years I had some young bloods that had to be "jump started" on live. Now that she has struck and eaten, she should take FT in her next feeding or so. Those bloods have a fast and wicked strike and can move fast when they want to. I have a huge six foot black blood that seems to shake the house when he strikes his food. Always a rush feeding him.

Many years ago some of the reptile pros told me that bloods like cooler temps as they live in swamps and marshes. Though most tropical boas & pythons come from hot areas, they hide in cooler places during the day and come out at night. The cool sides of my cages range from 71-75 and that is where the snakes stay most of the time. The only time I see them in the hot zone is when digesting a meal. Over the years I have found that feeding small to moderate food items is easier on the snake and promotes long, healthy lives. Bill
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...three years ago it was just another snake cult...
The Retic is King.
Anacondas-the other Dark Side.
Afrocks-the dark side of the Dark Side.