So he ate for me. I bought a frozen mouse and thawed it. I used tongs to place the mouse and get his attention. Once he noticed what it was he ate it. He didnt coil or even strike at it like I thought he would though. My guess is that he was fed dead mice from his breeder.
My boys will still strike. If you hold the prey item in your tongs, and wiggle it, he should see the movement and display the correct response, if he's a good feeder already.
Gimli, my oldest gets "trigger" happy pretty easily, so I have the rat in the bin waiting for him now, so he no longer looks up and strikes.
You can condition him to eat the way you feel comfortable if you practice the same routine each feeding.
What size prey did he swallow with no coil?
Mine will only do that if the prey is too small.
Get them conditioned early or else later on it could be hell to correct habits.
I bought a 8year old a few years ago and spent a few months trying to get her to eat frozen/thawed, nope she is live eater, and I believe always will be.
My two 700gramers will only eat African Soft Furs and now I am mad at my self. I had bred them for a year, but now I do not because of the hassle, and now I need to spend $5 each to buy adult frozens. And when they get to 1200g+ I will need TWO adults.
I would recommend getting yours on rats asap, as when it is an adult, you will be grateful.
He is a nice looking normal, very light colors, should stay bright.