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Update: Just tried feeding them again, offered them all a warmed up mouse pinkie.... still none ready to eat.... they seem to be stuck in 'escape mode' I am thinking I will try them again in a few more days.... but will try them next just with some chicken about the size of a pinkie..... this lot makes about 30 mouse pinkies wasted.... anyone have any ideas?

Yes, with next feed only defrost 2-3 pinks try all with 'hold to feed' and if none take - do a 'touch feed' IE touch them around the neck to entice an aggressive feeding response and if they keep backing off then let them rest for 10 mins and brain a pink and see who will take it with 'hold and feed'. Last resort scent with a skink by rubbing skink on a pink and 'hold and feed'.

Cheers
Congo
 
Well, I am out of ideas.... they are 2 and a half months old now. One eats like a trooper, I hand it a pinkie, it eats it.... hand it another and i eats that too.... none of the others will eat. They bite defensively (me) and I can get the head of the pinky in thier mouth, or they strike and throw the pinky? I make sure the pinky is warm, have tried feeding them morning, afternoon and night time. I have tried the pin in the head trick (the pinky, not the snake) I guess they just arent meant to make it? Oh well, I will just keep trying and hope they dont all kark it....

If anyone near Landsborough or sunshine coast would like to give me a hand, that would be appreciated, otherwise I will just keep trying and see what happens.... que sera sera I guess
 
Well, I am out of ideas.... they are 2 and a half months old now. One eats like a trooper, I hand it a pinkie, it eats it.... hand it another and i eats that too.... none of the others will eat. They bite defensively (me) and I can get the head of the pinky in thier mouth, or they strike and throw the pinky? I make sure the pinky is warm, have tried feeding them morning, afternoon and night time. I have tried the pin in the head trick (the pinky, not the snake) I guess they just arent meant to make it? Oh well, I will just keep trying and hope they dont all kark it....

If anyone near Landsborough or sunshine coast would like to give me a hand, that would be appreciated, otherwise I will just keep trying and see what happens.... que sera sera I guess
Tried sending a pm but u need to clear your jnbox
 
Yeah, didnt even know I had any messages, had 800 or so.... been busy deleting....

Got the message..... I havent got enough hands to hold the snake, hold the pinkie and open its mouth to get it in there
 
Thanks swampy, I will try that when I can find some, until then, I will keep trying to find someone local who can hold the hatchies for me, so I can open the mouth and put in the pinkies head, like I have done for other people on several occasions, including some that I have driven down to brisbane to help who were in the same boat, I am guessing there are other people with snakes in the Landsborough/Caloundra area?
 
You're a little while off force feeding yet. Honestly try gecko scent first. I had three mac hatchlings, one would eat perfectly from the get-go, the other two didn't care. So pulled out a frozen gecko, defrosted it with the pinkies, and on the third feed (tried two with no scenting) they ate right away. You just have to make sure the head of the pinkie smells like gecko (rub it on!), and you're good to go. I might need to do one or two more feeds scented, and then they'll start taking normal pinkies themselves.
 
Hi Captain , Today our last two stimsons finally ate on their own . What we did was just leave a warm pinkie in with them in the evening cover them so they have complete darkness and be patient . Do not go near them until the next morning , we had tried this before but my wife was a bit too inquisitive and only waited an hour or two but over night last night and we have success.
 
Force feeding is very easy to do by yourself, some people use mouse or rat tails but I prefer whole pinkies....I actually think it would be harder to do with someone else helping, it would also be more stressful for the animal...
Opening their mouths is easy, just use the corner of a card like an eftpos card or licence etc and slide the pinky in then drop the card out, over time and with a bit of experience you'll be able to get the mouth open and the pinky in without using a card...
 
LOL you havent sen these things squirm.... How do you hold the snake in one hand, use the card to open the mouth with the other hand.... how do you get the pinkie to the mouth while holding a squirming hatchie, the card in its mouth? I have found it very easy if someone holds the hatchie, I open the mouth and insert pinky.... has worked well in the past on other peoples hatchies... I just need a volunteer....(or to grow an extra hand)
 
Yur not holding them firm enough... They r tough little buggers and u won't hurt them
 
Hi Captain , Today our last two stimsons finally ate on their own . What we did was just leave a warm pinkie in with them in the evening cover them so they have complete darkness and be patient . Do not go near them until the next morning , we had tried this before but my wife was a bit too inquisitive and only waited an hour or two but over night last night and we have success.

Thanks, I have left pinkies in overnight, they are just still there next day.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will just keep trying to find someone to help me hold on to them and see what happens
 
Force feeding pinkies can actually be quiet stressful and difficult. I start with feeder fish as they slide down a lot easier plus sometimes you just need to kick start the metabolism then they start feeding. If you decide to force feed, don't make it regular as you need to give them time to work an appetite to want to eat for themselves. Also two and a half months is quiet a long time, I had some spotteds hatch with tongue defects who weren't eating. After two months of not eating I took them to the vet to check her opinion if it was worth putting them down. At that point they were still lively and strong so she said to continue force feeding, within a week they passed away.
 
Like I said in my earlier post, force feeding pinkies is not difficult at all, I can force feed a pink mouse to a hatchie ant in under a minute....they are one of the easiest snakes to force feed..
 
Like I said in my earlier post, force feeding pinkies is not difficult at all, I can force feed a pink mouse to a hatchie ant in under a minute....they are one of the easiest snakes to force feed..

Any chance I could bring them down and you can show me? I am at it again now and still no action yet....
 
I bred spotties for the first time this year myself,out of the 8,6 of them ate about 3 weeks after there first shed,the other 2 refused to eat at all,all i did was stick a pin into the head of the pinkie to release the brain fluid and BAM! now they eat without fail,so simple yet so effective.....just my personal experience :)
 
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