Live skink feeding

[wichita]

Is there any moral, practical or health reasons why you shouldn't feed a python live skinks?

 

[bylo]

I have never herd of it,but I once herd of skink urine on pinkie mice to get snakes to eat.(how you get a skink to pee on a mouse I don't know)

 

[munkee]

Health reason - Risk of intestinal worms (assuming wild skinks)
Catching the skinks - Effort required.....


Not sure if there is an issue of legality or not.

 

[Australis]

Why would you want to though>?

Parasites is one issue, skinks are riddled with them generally.

Also, you might get problems getting it to eat anything else

 

[cris]

Morals are up to you, they often carry parasites and its illegal in most states to feed protected animals to your snakes. In qld you can use them if they wont eat anything else provided you use one of the listed species.

IMO you shouldnt unless you need to and there generally woudnt be any need unless you have bred some pythons and have already tried everthing else.

 

[Aslan]

Well even Garden Skinks are listed in the NSW Cat 1 Licence However I have heard of a list of skinks which are allowed to be collected as food...??

Maybe I'm mistaken but it rings a bell...

 

[wichita]

Thanks for all the feedback. We have a young childreni that has ignored pinkies for 6 weeks. Out of desperation I put in a live skink to see what the snake would do. Jumped at it in seconds like that's what he wanted all along.

Not sure where this leaves me. I stupidly didn't consider internal parasites. How would I know if the snake has picked up some internal parasites?

 

[cris]

Thanks for all the feedback. We have a young childreni that has ignored pinkies for 6 weeks. Out of desperation I put in a live skink to see what the snake would do. Jumped at it in seconds like that's what he wanted all along.

Not sure where this leaves me. I stupidly didn't consider internal parasites. How would I know if the snake has picked up some internal parasites?

you can have your vet do a fecal float test, it shouldnt cost much and shows up most if not all worms eggs. In the wild snakes will do fine with heaps of parasites it just in a captive environment they are continually exposed to their crap(and the worms in it) and more often than not higher stress levels. Its not a major problem so dont stress too much.
Personally i would wait a month or 2 then get a float test done, this wont require you to take in the snake or pay for a consult just call the vet(one that deals with snakes) and tell them thats what you want.

Or you could just wait until it is feeding well and worm it.

Lizards are their natural food so they will obviously prefer them, but only an irresponsible breeder would sell a snake if its not feeding on pinkies without letting you know.

 

[Aslan]

There are a number of techniques described to train a young snake to feed on pinkies as opposed to skinks (which are their natural prey at that age)...

'scenting' the pinkie by boiling it with skink tails is one I have heard...also placing a skink tail in the mouth of the pinky....as well as scenting the pinky with urine/faeces from a skink....

 

[wil]

it works pretty good too!

 

[wichita]

Thanks for all the good advice.

 

[RodSydAus]

Hi wichita,
I was in the exact some position some months back with a yearling childreni, even tried a skink as you did but he still wasnt interested. Finally got him to eat by defrosting the pinkies in a freezer bag dropped in hot water, keeping the pinkie dry while it warmed up to body temperature, apparently a soggy pinkie is not as enticing even if it has been towelled dry lol. As well as this I had to stop feeding him in my feed container as he was either too upset or just curious with the change in surroundings and wouldnt touch the food. So now he has a special plate that he eats off in his habitat enclosure. My point is there is no guaranteed solution to the problem, just try whatever you can think will make a difference. I know its frustrating throwing away pinkies that have been refused but the snake will eat eventually.

 

[serpenttongue]

We have a young childreni that has ignored pinkies for 6 weeks. Out of desperation I put in a live skink to see what the snake would do. Jumped at it in seconds like that's what he wanted all along.

So it actually suffocated and ate the skink?

Be aware that hatchling snakes sometimes aren't too good at killing skinks. They tend to constrict the skink around the hind legs or tail etc.....everywhere but the mid body where the lungs are ( i suppose the size of the skink may have something to do with this). They can end up swallowing a skink that is still alive (even though they think they've killed it) and once swallowed, the skink can thrash around inside the stomach and do damage to the snakes gut lining. Most skinks that are swallowed alive will usually writhe their way back out of the snake or irritate the snake so much that the snake will regurgitate it. I know of snakes that have died immediately after regurgitating live skinks.

 

[wichita]

Yeah it did. Actually I fed it two (this is like a confessional) because I was so relieved that it was eating and it suffocated both before swallowing. But I take what you are saying here very seriously. It's obviously much safer to feed them pinkies.

 

[wichita]

Thanks for the tip about the defrosting technique and feeding ritual RodSydAus. Will try for sure.

 

[serpenttongue]

If it has excepted skinks then i suggest not feeding for a while so it gets quite hungry and then offering a pinky with skink scent rubbed onto it. I think you'll get a positive reaction to this.

 

[wichita]

If it has excepted skinks then i suggest not feeding for a while so it gets quite hungry and then offering a pinky with skink scent rubbed onto it. I think you'll get a positive reaction to this.

Sorry if this is a stupid question serpenttounge, but how long is "a while". I'm slowly getting used to 'snake time'. Appreciate your help.

 

[wichita]

Thanks everyone for giving me your thoughts on this. This is a great forum.

 

[hazzard]

I have been getting troublesome childrenii and macs for years. They can be a real problem. If it likes skinks then try this. Get yourself a day ols Jap quail (I can help you locate one in Western Sydney).

1. Defrost in in a small lot of water with the pinkie.
2. Macerate the quail and completely coat the pinkie in quail blood.
3. stick a small quail feather in its mouth and then offer.
4. Bingo you will have success.

Often you must get thr childrenii wound up. Rub it up and down the neck and push it against it's head until it grabs it. It may let go several times put be persistent. This is the last technique I use to get the most difficult hatcho's feeding.

If you've tried everything in the list in wiki, then try this. I've had success even with friends hatchies that have been force-fed for 10 months.

Hope this helps

 

[Chris1]

http://www.snugglesafe.co.uk/heatpad.htm

these are a great 'plate' incase ur snake doesnt take its mouse straight away,....

..they are available over here,..but a bit hard to find,...