Force feeding.... how often???

[Jungle_Freak]

My secret for getting a small or fussy hatchie to eat is using fresh dead geckos or gecko tails .
Assist feeding or forced feeding should be last resort because of stress involved etc.
Once they have had a feed on a few geckos there strength and appertite is usually craving bigger meals and then the neonates will accept fuzzie mice .

 

[Jay84]

My secret for getting a small or fussy hatchie to eat is using fresh dead geckos or gecko tails .
Assist feeding or forced feeding should be last resort because of stress involved etc.
Once they have had a feed on a few geckos there strength and appertite is usually craving bigger meals and then the noenates will accept fuzzie mice .

Thanks for the advice Roger... i'll have to catch some skinks next time i visit my parents as we don't get any in the CBD

I will start trying all the methods mentioned and see which one works for me ...... hopefully the first one i try!

 

[ellis01]

Try an egg Jay. It's my last resort, but it works every time...

It does in deed work a treat I tried it today warmed the blended egg in the microwave for 15 seconds put an unthawed pinky in the little cup with the egg. The warmth of the egg defrosted te pinky offered it to my childrens which is about a month old (head first) and grabed it like no tommorow cheers jungleman!!!!!

 

[cement]

Why buy hatchlings that have not shed or fed because i have had no experience you ask??

When will i be considered experienced enough? I have kept snakes and lizards for 17 years now, i have bred lizards for most of that time but never snakes...... in your opinion should i wait until i breed my snakes and then have to deal with a WHOLE clutch of potentially bad feeders? Or should i gain 'experience' from having one bad feeder first? So then when i do breed my own i have the first hand 'experience' to deal with it? Also, i have had hatchie snakes before that i have aquired before having their first feed and i managed to get them feeding with no need to forcefeed (hence why i still have no first hand 'experiece')

I was also basically given these snakes by a friend, i did not seek them out and buy them from a breeder or dealer. My friend is more than capable of giving me a hand with forcefeeding etc, but that would just be his way. When asking a question like this on a forum there are many different opinions and tricks to doing things. I thought i would gain the experience of many keepers and then see what works well for me.

Well the very best of luck to you then.

 

[Elite_Reptiles]

No probs ellis, people look at me weird when I tell them this recipe, but can't thank me enough after they have tried it. I don't know why it works, but it's never let me down with the fussiest of feeders. I just put it down to instinct...in the wild, bird, lizard and other snake eggs are one of their main diets.

Just keep reducing the amount of egg on the pinky till the little minster takes it without anything on it.

Try an egg Jay. It's my last resort, but it works every time...

It does in deed work a treat I tried it today warmed the blended egg in the microwave for 15 seconds put an unthawed pinky in the little cup with the egg. The warmth of the egg defrosted te pinky offered it to my childrens which is about a month old (head first) and grabed it like no tommorow cheers jungleman!!!!!

 

[aussie-albino]

Hi Jay84 what Colin, Nev and Roger said, I have never even had to assist feed, let alone force feed and never had a hatchling die I had 2 Jungles last year wait til almost 6mo to feed, both smaller animals and the little bit of weight loss was nominal. To much stess on the animal imagine how you would feel, if the python is healthy it will eat eventually, leave the pinky in overnight, it is a more natural feeding time and a lot of jungles are very private animals and prefer not to have an audience while eating initially anyway.
cheers
Scott

 

[AM Pythons]

i have 2 devil line jungles here that are 8 weeks old they havnt shed or eaten yet, i used to assist feed but not bothering anymore, i agree some just take longer to start up... keep trying, leave a feed in over nite, want hurt.. keep trying things, it may get to the stage were you may have to assist, but last resort only..& yes i agree the egg works a treat... i just leave raw egg in the shed on the floor of the cage.

 

[Jay84]

Just thought i would update you all on how this little hatchie is going.

I tried EVERY trick and piece of advise offered on this thread.... to no avail.

So it has now been about 2.5 months since hatching and still no feeding or shedding. Last night he looked in VERY bad shape. Having trouble moving and the skin looking very bad (i have kept this hatchie constantly moist).

This morning i went to check on him and thre were a couple of flakes of skin hanging off him, i considered this must be time for his old skin to come off! I grabbed a pair of tweezers and began carefully lifting the skin from around his lips. Each time i picked a bit of skin a small piece would lift and then snap off. I continued doin this for ages until i finally had all the old skin off. The old skin was really stuck to the new skin and did not come away easily. There was no moisture between the old and new skin as there usually is when shedding.

There was also a 'plug' of skin in the cloaca which i pulled out. It seems this caused impaction and i had to manipulate quite a bit of poo by squeezing it from the poor thing.

I had to leave for work very shortly after. I am yet to return home and am hoping he is still ok.

I will let him settle this evening due to all the stress today and then try feeding tomorrow.

 

[shellfisch]

I can offer no advice at all, just the hope that the little fella comes through for you.
Good luck.

 

[Jay84]

I can offer no advice at all, just the hope that the little fella comes through for you.
Good luck.

Thanks, i hope so

 

[ScalyMung]

Jay84 have you tried feeding it a mouse with hair on it [fuzzy ,hopper] as I've got a couple of hatchies that ar'nt intrested in pinkies rat or mice but once I offered a hopper mouse bang no hesitation what so ever and have you tried brainning like what was mentiond in an earlier post and make sure food is really warm/hot as too cold of a temperture they can just totally ignore it all the best with the pain in the butt
Cheers Deano

 

[Radar]

This is a very informative thread...

I've had one carpet hatchling from many refuse food for a full 8 months before deciding to feed. 5 others from the (large) clutch were problem feeders but only waited about 3 months.

I will try the egg trick next time.

 

[Jay84]

So i got home last night and checked the little snake, he was still alive...... but very weak.

I was trying to decide whether to leave him for the night and try feeding the following day or to feed him that night and get all the stress over so he can have a good rest for a few days after.

I decided to feed him there and then, his weight has dropped so much i think it was more important to get some food into him.

I had never forcefed a snake before, so i was quite worried. It was a horrible experience and i don't want to have to do it too often. It took a while to get it down his throat,i had to massage it all the way down as the poor thing had no energy to push it down himself. He just lay there, not even able to curl his tail around my finger.

Today i came home form work to find him curled up on his perch! Looking really good compared to normal. I will do it all again in a few days and hopefully get some weight onto him and build up his strength.

Here's hoping he will take food on his own soon!

 

[abnrmal91]

Good to hear its hopefully picking up. Just make sure its nice and warm so it can digest it properly.

 

[babba007]

That's great news. Fingers crossed he improves.

 

[eracer]

Not sure if you have tried this, may not be relevant depending on your enclosure. We put a small dark box in the enclosure to get up to temp. then put the snake in and close it, then put the pinky in and close it again. The security of the smaller dark box seems to help and they bump into it, sniff it, and generally check it out more as opposed to a normal cage where the pinky sits at one end and the snake at the other.

A warning on what not to do - a couple of times I have blended food in a last ditch effort to get food into an absolute non - feeder (I am talking skin and boner). I have syringed (with a tube extension) right down into the gut. The snake looks fine for hours. Come back the next day and it is dead. Regurge into the mouth, cant clear the trachea, trachea gets blocked and it suffocates. Not cool

 

[Jay84]

A warning on what not to do - a couple of times I have blended food in a last ditch effort to get food into an absolute non - feeder (I am talking skin and boner). I have syringed (with a tube extension) right down into the gut. The snake looks fine for hours. Come back the next day and it is dead. Regurge into the mouth, cant clear the trachea, trachea gets blocked and it suffocates. Not cool

Thanks for this warning! I was considering getting a Pinkie pump...... maybe not now!

 

[pythons73]

All is not at a lose atm.I had a hatchie chondro that was 12months old,it was forced fed the whole time by the breeder.Since he had a clutch that season he was too occupied with the new hatchies.However the first night i was feeding the jungle with a quail,and the the little green was really active,so i offered a head of the quail,within 1minute he-she coiled around it and ate it.I did the same thing 5 days later,in which it ate.From that week i scented a pinky mouse and bingo it ate.Never refused from that day.PATIENCE is the key with non-feeders-fussy eaters.Assist fed is generally the way i go and hopefully after a few times it generally takes the food item.Fingers crossed..

 

[Mace699]

Hey mate i had a similar problem jungle hatchy around the same age when i got it had to force feed it a few times just gave it day old pinkys and after a while was good after that sadly died of an unrelated issue but force feeding is scary but not as hard as it seems if you need a hand im sure ther will be some one in the area that will help with a larger prey item if your not sure yourself.

 

[pythonmum]

Hi Jay - glad your little one is picking up. I tried the egg trick with my two non-feeders. I unlatched the click-clacks and then went away for a while so that I wouldn't startle them with a jolt right before feeding. I warmed up the fuzzy mice, warmed up the egg, dipped the fuzzy in the egg and - moving with the stealth of a ninja - silently introduced the fuzzy in almost total darkness. Two hours later, the little mongrels still hadn't eaten and had moved as far away from the fuzzy as possible... so I assist fed them yet again. They are gaining weight and nice and active. Not great at shedding, but nothing like the problems you describe. I will let them get nice and empty before I try closing them in a box with a fuzzy overnight. Worth a try... However, if they don't eat, I'll keep pushing and shoving. It gets easier as they get bigger and as they get used to the routine. I also feed multiple items so that I don't have to do it so often. This cuts the stress on both of us.