Yeah I have never been able to NOT watch.I would try to walk away but I am just too afraid of something happening to her. When i try a rat pup should I try and use tongs and present it to her or just put it on the floor of the tank? everytime ive tried to feed her I put her in a seperate tank (not her normal tank) should I continue this, and should I put the hide box in for her too?
I would just put the rat in front of her (with tongs)on the floor of the feeding tank, if she doesn't seem interested after a while try to move the rat closer to her and move it around a bit to try and stimulate her feeding response. I wouldn't put the hide box in the feeding tank because she might just try and hide rather than feeding. Try to warm up the feeding tank before you put her in, and let her settle down and slither around before you put the rat in to try and make her more comfortable.
OK. Thanks alot for your help.I am going to try and feed her today. When I go to the pet store should I ask for a 'rat pup' or a baby rat or what do you think would be most suitable and easy for her?
Ask the people at the pet store to let you see the rats and ask them how old they are, get either a fuzzy (10-13 days of age) or a pup (14-18 days of age), both of which will have their eyes closed and will be relatively helpless and will not move very much compared to an older rat. Either one should be fine and your blood will be able to take her time to inspect and size up the rat since it shouldn't be very active. I hope this helps, tell me how it goes.
Hey man. I got a fuzzy rat, just barely eyes open, warmed up the tank, put my blood in first for a good 20 minutes then introduced the rat and she did the same thing she just wasnt interested.the rat was moving a bit and everything but she just kept trying to climb up the tank walls like she always does. I was watching her do this for like 15 minutes before I took her out again. Now I really dont know what to do..Should I contact the dealer i got her from or just keep trying the fuzzies?
I would contact the dealer as well, and when you do also ask him what she was feeding on. Try to keep her in the tank with the rat or mouse (whatever she was eating before) longer just to see if she calms down and eats. If not try to leave a dead rodent in with her at night and give her some peace and quiet and try not to bee seen, she might just be use to eating with no one watching and you may have to gradually get her use to you being there when she eats.
Well I've had my blood for probably 3 months now and she hasnt eaten yet. I've tried frozen mice and live mice and she is just totally uninterested. She drinks fine though and looks like she is acclimated to her environment, she will just chill out in the open and everything but when she is presented a mouse she will actually like jerk her head away from it. I'm not really sure what to do.I've heard some bloods wont eat in the winter...what do u think?
Your day time temps are too high you want to aim for about 85F - 87F ambient air temperature. Humidity is a major thing for bloods though be sure to Keep it at a constant 60%-70%. The size of the enclosure sounds fine for a blood that size, be sure to cover some of the top if it has a screen top (to hold humidity) and make sure it has at least one hide box preferably two (one on the warm side and one on the cool side).
There's a few different things I would try to get your blood to start feeding, first try live pinky or fuzzy rats(something a little smaller than the mice you have tried)pinks and fuzzys don't move around nearly as much as a hopper or small mouse would, and the breeder may have had the blood on rats. If you know the blood was on mice before and the pinky rat didn't work try fresh killed (kill it right before you put it in) if it doesn't seem interested move it around a bit with some tongs.
ok i will try some pinkys..The rat pups are a last resort because my g/f used to keep rats and she wont have one being fed to a snake in our place yadda yadda yadda...umm what do u use for humidity in the tank? do you just spray it down with water? I have some real moss that the dealer gave to me but that dries out really quickly. How long would a blood let itself go without eating?Basically when do I start worrying?
I would definitely recommend the rat pups first because the breeder you got the blood from may have had the blood on rat pups so that might be the only prey item it recognizes (rats and mice smell VERY different to snakes), and your going to have to feed your blood rats soon enough anyway (unless you go straight to pinky rabbits) when it outgrows mice so your gf should learn to get use to it, I know its no fun if you had them as pets but it may come down to the rat or the snake.
As far as humidity goes I spray the substrate down, shift it around, and spray it once or twice more and that usually keeps the enclosure at about 66% for somewhere around thirty hours, so I do this every day and it is working great for me. I also have a huge water bowl under a 60 watt bulb and that also contributes to the ambient air humidity. Many people do use types of moss with success but I haven't tried it myself in my reptiles enclosures.
Yeah I hear ya.. I will try them. I tried one before but it was kinda vicious and nipped my bloods snout a little. I've been told to not watch them but I'm so worried that she will get bitten or attacked
You may be talking about a larger rat because a rat pup (14 to 18 days of age) doesn't even have its eyes open yet and they hardly even move. I highly recommend that you ALWAYS watch every feeding, I have always watched every feeding from start to finish with every animal I have ever owned or worked with. There are so many things that can go wrong with a live rodent stuck in the same feeding tub (or enclosure) with a snake especially a young snake, I can't emphasize this point enough.
When she was younger she was a little spitfire, she would strike at anything that moved or was possibly in range, so needless to say she went right after a (live) little weanling as soon as it hit the bottom of the feeding tub. And the first time she was offered a F/T mouse she did not hesitate to strike and fully rap it up the moment she saw it. I cant wait to see your blood, how was He/She with its first meals?
Thanks, she is now 8 months old and 37" but was quite a bit smaller in this video (I think around 24"). This was her first rat, she was on mice before this. Do you have any video or pictures of your blood? I'd like to see it.
Yeah I have never been able to NOT watch.I would try to walk away but I am just too afraid of something happening to her. When i try a rat pup should I try and use tongs and present it to her or just put it on the floor of the tank? everytime ive tried to feed her I put her in a seperate tank (not her normal tank) should I continue this, and should I put the hide box in for her too?
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
I would just put the rat in front of her (with tongs)on the floor of the feeding tank, if she doesn't seem interested after a while try to move the rat closer to her and move it around a bit to try and stimulate her feeding response. I wouldn't put the hide box in the feeding tank because she might just try and hide rather than feeding. Try to warm up the feeding tank before you put her in, and let her settle down and slither around before you put the rat in to try and make her more comfortable.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
OK. Thanks alot for your help.I am going to try and feed her today. When I go to the pet store should I ask for a 'rat pup' or a baby rat or what do you think would be most suitable and easy for her?
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
Ask the people at the pet store to let you see the rats and ask them how old they are, get either a fuzzy (10-13 days of age) or a pup (14-18 days of age), both of which will have their eyes closed and will be relatively helpless and will not move very much compared to an older rat. Either one should be fine and your blood will be able to take her time to inspect and size up the rat since it shouldn't be very active. I hope this helps, tell me how it goes.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
Hey man. I got a fuzzy rat, just barely eyes open, warmed up the tank, put my blood in first for a good 20 minutes then introduced the rat and she did the same thing she just wasnt interested.the rat was moving a bit and everything but she just kept trying to climb up the tank walls like she always does. I was watching her do this for like 15 minutes before I took her out again. Now I really dont know what to do..Should I contact the dealer i got her from or just keep trying the fuzzies?
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
I would contact the dealer as well, and when you do also ask him what she was feeding on. Try to keep her in the tank with the rat or mouse (whatever she was eating before) longer just to see if she calms down and eats. If not try to leave a dead rodent in with her at night and give her some peace and quiet and try not to bee seen, she might just be use to eating with no one watching and you may have to gradually get her use to you being there when she eats.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
Well I've had my blood for probably 3 months now and she hasnt eaten yet. I've tried frozen mice and live mice and she is just totally uninterested. She drinks fine though and looks like she is acclimated to her environment, she will just chill out in the open and everything but when she is presented a mouse she will actually like jerk her head away from it. I'm not really sure what to do.I've heard some bloods wont eat in the winter...what do u think?
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
What are the temps. and humidity like? What are the measurements of the enclosure? How big is the blood?
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
above 90C below 100C during the day.
78-80 at night. tank is 24-12-13 inches.
my blood is about 17-18 inches.not skinny at all relative to her length
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
Your day time temps are too high you want to aim for about 85F - 87F ambient air temperature. Humidity is a major thing for bloods though be sure to Keep it at a constant 60%-70%. The size of the enclosure sounds fine for a blood that size, be sure to cover some of the top if it has a screen top (to hold humidity) and make sure it has at least one hide box preferably two (one on the warm side and one on the cool side).
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
There's a few different things I would try to get your blood to start feeding, first try live pinky or fuzzy rats(something a little smaller than the mice you have tried)pinks and fuzzys don't move around nearly as much as a hopper or small mouse would, and the breeder may have had the blood on rats. If you know the blood was on mice before and the pinky rat didn't work try fresh killed (kill it right before you put it in) if it doesn't seem interested move it around a bit with some tongs.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
ok i will try some pinkys..The rat pups are a last resort because my g/f used to keep rats and she wont have one being fed to a snake in our place yadda yadda yadda...umm what do u use for humidity in the tank? do you just spray it down with water? I have some real moss that the dealer gave to me but that dries out really quickly. How long would a blood let itself go without eating?Basically when do I start worrying?
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
I would definitely recommend the rat pups first because the breeder you got the blood from may have had the blood on rat pups so that might be the only prey item it recognizes (rats and mice smell VERY different to snakes), and your going to have to feed your blood rats soon enough anyway (unless you go straight to pinky rabbits) when it outgrows mice so your gf should learn to get use to it, I know its no fun if you had them as pets but it may come down to the rat or the snake.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
As far as humidity goes I spray the substrate down, shift it around, and spray it once or twice more and that usually keeps the enclosure at about 66% for somewhere around thirty hours, so I do this every day and it is working great for me. I also have a huge water bowl under a 60 watt bulb and that also contributes to the ambient air humidity. Many people do use types of moss with success but I haven't tried it myself in my reptiles enclosures.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
Yeah I hear ya.. I will try them. I tried one before but it was kinda vicious and nipped my bloods snout a little. I've been told to not watch them but I'm so worried that she will get bitten or attacked
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
You may be talking about a larger rat because a rat pup (14 to 18 days of age) doesn't even have its eyes open yet and they hardly even move. I highly recommend that you ALWAYS watch every feeding, I have always watched every feeding from start to finish with every animal I have ever owned or worked with. There are so many things that can go wrong with a live rodent stuck in the same feeding tub (or enclosure) with a snake especially a young snake, I can't emphasize this point enough.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
I will be posting some vids of my blood soon. How long did it take your blood to eat the very first time? Was it alive or p/k food?
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
When she was younger she was a little spitfire, she would strike at anything that moved or was possibly in range, so needless to say she went right after a (live) little weanling as soon as it hit the bottom of the feeding tub. And the first time she was offered a F/T mouse she did not hesitate to strike and fully rap it up the moment she saw it. I cant wait to see your blood, how was He/She with its first meals?
FixingAHole237 4 years ago
How old is your blood?
is this first feeding ever, or just first rat?
Beautiful blood by the way I got one that looks pretty much identical
HarleyDiggler 4 years ago
Thanks, she is now 8 months old and 37" but was quite a bit smaller in this video (I think around 24"). This was her first rat, she was on mice before this. Do you have any video or pictures of your blood? I'd like to see it.
FixingAHole237 4 years ago