How to get hatchies feeding?

[waruikazi]

i have a clutch of childrens that i am giving their first feed today. what is the best way to do it? And if u have had experience doing this what was the easiest/most succesful way?

 

[speedy]

hey what i normaly do is leave it till the night put a pink mouse in there if it not gone in the morning take it out and try again in a couple of day and so on

 

[waruikazi]

sweet thanks mate i'll try that, do u put a live one or dead one in??

 

[pythonlover]

when i fist got my diamond python i used the warm water trick and i used a pair of tongs and gently rubbed the pinkie mouse on the side of the snakes mouth and it worked first try... hope this helps

 

[waruikazi]

Was it ur dp's first feed?

 

[pythonlover]

yeah i bought it as a non feeder took about 3 weeks to eat but after i did that worked first go and i havent had a problem since

 

[speedy]

i try my snakes all on dead first and put a litle cut in the head to let out a bit of smell if it doesent work then try live as a last option

 

[waruikazi]

oK cheers guys.

any one else have ideas?? I'm gonna have a lot of hatchies soon so i'll need lots of methods lol.

 

[pythonlover]

i have heard different scents work aswell like using the scent of a skink or another rat or mouse spread over the food you choose to use

 

[Ashleigh:]]

When I first got my mac hatchie she didnt eat for the first week & a half after 4 attempts.
I put a pin through the pinkies head and squeezed it so a little bit of fluid came out & then left it in there and she ate it within a few hours.
The second time I just left it in over night and she ate it about 10 the next morning.. lol
went to take it out cause didnt want my room to smell and it was gone lol.

Good luck

 

[clarkey]

Put the pinkie in a container with a couple of garden skinks, that will scent the pinkie. In the wild small skinks would be one of the first things a hatchy snake would manage to catch.

 

[AnteUp]

http://www.aussiepythons.com/wiki/index.php/Getting_Hatchlings_to_Eat

 

[JasonL]

also try feeding on very hot days, you sometimes get more success.

 

[Magpie]

Plain ordinary tease feeding has worked well for me.

 

[DC]

I wouldnt start senting with skinks just yet.I wait till their about 4 weeks old before offering defrosted pinkies.I keep offering them defrosted pinkies for another couple of weeks,stubborn feeders then get offered a live pinky.If they still refuse food I either sent them with day old chick or a skink.You can also squeeze some blood out of the pinkies nose to get a response.Also touching the snake around the neck and tail can trigger a aggressive strike which can get them feeding.Its all about trying a few thing and alot of patience.

 

[Jason]

im with DC dont sent yet, i just scented my pinkies for some hatchies first feeds that was 5-6 weeks after hatching. until then just try several ways, try live, then leave defrosted pinkies in there ect.... if nothing works over a few weeks, then scent its as simple as puting a skink in a small bag with a pinkie for a minute and that should be enough, if they dont grab it off tweezrs try leaving it in there for a while, they will come round eventually. scenting with skinks is a last resort!!!!

 

[swampie]

When i get stubborn feeders i stir them up with my fingers first eg. tap them on the back or tail , when they get mad and start striking hold the pinky in front of there face with a long set of tweesers and they usually grab it , if they let it go continue the process untill they hold and swallow, if they dont eat after half a dozen grab and drops i leave them alone for a week or two and try again.
I have one line of childreni that are buggers to get feeding every year and have found this method works well for me without the need for scenting. Also bashing them around the head with the pinky works well sometimes. I have found morning to be the best time as they seem more agresive at this time. There may be no need to do anything that has been mentioned in this thread as some hatchies just eat straight away like they have been doing for years.
Good luck with your feeding Gordo, hopefully you get easy ones's as they are far less stressfull.

Cheers,

swampie

 

[waruikazi]

I think i may have just tried it a bit too early, they have only just had their first shed. A few of them struck at the pinkies but none of them ate, which sux. Well i think i'm gonna leave it for about another week before trying them again. Thanks for all the tips guys, i never realised how hard this would be.

 

[Magpie]

Yeah, it aint always easy, but scenting can create more problems than it solves at times. You then have to try and wean them off scented food.

 

[OzGecko]

I keep Northern Velvet geckos, Oedura castelnaui, which in my opinion have a strong scent when it comes to geckoes and have found that by collecting their shed skins, breaking it (the shed skin that is) into smaller pieces and sticking it to a pinkie mouse using a drop of water will get any stubborn hatchling feeding. It is usually quite simple to wean the animal off this aswell.
I think this is also safer than using a garden skink to scent a pinkie, but if you dont have access it could be a problem.