If you are using aspen or any other substrate that can stick to the mouse and be swallowed by your snake, then definitely DO feed in a separate container. It can even just be butter bowl or something simple like that. Just make sure there are air holes if he will be in there very long.
If he is year old, then he probably knows the feeding routine and might just be stressed/nervous from being moved to a new home. There are lots of different tricks to try to get him to eat. Many of them are probably covered in the FAQ section that is at the top of this forum.
My advice would be to leave him alone for 3-4 days and don't bother him at all. Then around dusk put him in a container with an appropriately sized prey f/t prey item. The mouse should be no bigger than 1.5x the widest part of his body. To give it some extra smell use a knife and put some slices down the back of the mouse. Try not to hover over him while you are waiting. If you have to just put the whole container back in his viv overnight so that he has peace and quite (and darkness) to eat in.
If this doesn't work you can start to try some of the other options like braining, live pinky overnight, various scenting methods.
It's important not to try feeding him too often. If he refuses all the time and you keep offering food he will learn to just refuse. Try to only offer food every 4-5 days. If he still refuses to eat after a few more tries I would talk to the pet store and tell them that they sold you a snake that won't eat, but don't give up on him yet.
Oh, and I didn't do the Celsius conversions, but you want your temps to be in the mid-70s on the cool end and the warm end should be in the low to mid-80s (degrees F).
|