Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As you know I bought four baby BP's @ the Hamburg show. Three ate right away (though perhaps there is still a danger with them because I may have fed too big. Time will tell). However, the problem I am having is not with the three who ate right away. They are doing okay.

There is one that didn't eat. Tonight I took a closer look @ her and she was very very skinny. Her ventral side skin in her chest area was completely sunken in. She was in very bad shape and needed to eat, so I force fed her.

She would not eat on her own. I force fed her a pinky rat tail and the four limbs off of a pinky rat (one limb at a time). I got her to swallow the food. Her chest on the ventral side filled up a bit and now does not look sunken-in.

I plan to leave her alone for three days to let her digest the small meal of pinky rat tail and rat limbs. In Three days, I am going to feed some more rat parts. I am not going to let her starve. And (as I am learning) I am not going to overfeed her and shock her system.

I know that many of you in the other thread have already said that what is happening to me is the exact reason that one should not buy wild caught. You guys are correct and I am learning a very harsh lesson here.

However, I am asking that for now please help me. It is okay to criticize me for making the mistake in the first place, but right now, I need also some good advice. I can take the critisicm, as I am sure I will be getting for buying wild caught. But what I need most and also my baby needs the most right now is some help. We can discuss my ignorance in supporting the import trade another time. Trust me. I am open to that.

Back to my baby:
I have her in a small container with two good hide boxes that are tight fitting. I have humidity 70% and temp gradient of 82-92. I have a water dish and have soaked her for 1/2 hour. She is emaciated and she does not flick her tongue. She is very thin and does not move too much.

What else can I do? What do you think of leaving her alone for three days to digest her small meal? Too soon? Too long? She is at a critical stage where I have to balance allowing her to turn on her digestive system and force feeding her some nutrients.

Sign: worried dad and heart-broken dad.
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

Just keep it warm like that and hope it pulls through. How big is the pinkie rat's tail and legs. I was suggesting a pinky mouse. Anyway, keeping warm will help them pull through. Reptiles will seek high temperature when they are sick, this helps their body function better...their metabolism goes up and it booses the immune system. And this, also, helps them to digest the food because it takes alot of energy to digest food...using energy means that their need higher metabolism. Give them a whole lot of food means hard work and using a lot of energy and these snakes are pretty weak and emaciated...they haven't got the energy or enough digestive enzymes to allow them to digest a big meal.

What Corey said was true...... those meals were way too large for such skinny babies. I had the same thing happen to me last season. I bought a baby import cause I felt "bad" for her. Got her home and only had an adult mouse..... I didnt think she was going to eat but she did and I was happy thinking that she was in the clear. Two days later she died. Her body just couldnt take it.

You are taking the right steps with the last one. Leave her alone and wait 3 days..... try a small hopper. Something that moves around but isnt too large. If she doesnt take wait 3 days again. If she never eats then its a shame but forcing them too much is worse. You wouldnt want to die with a pork chop in your mouth right?

I hope they all make it but use this as a lesson. There is a reason they are only 8 bucks. If every single baby snake died before this guy could sell them then next season he would think twice about bringing in any imports.

Good luck
Raul

Is it drinking? I've found most snakes will drink on their own but if it looks dehydrated I'd give it a bit of pedialyte while you're at it. Do leave it alone for a while to digest though. I'm not sure I would have forced so soon, although forcing is better than watching a snake starve itself to death. It gets too much of a bad rap sometimes, IMO. (I tube fed some baby sand boas once, and despite several people telling me not to do it, I believe I saved their lives.
Feeding unfortunately doesn't bring the others into the clear. Some snakes won't act sick when they are. I had a lovely WC horned adder die with a rat pup in her stomach. She had a infection so massive it was visible upon gross dissection, but she was eating like a champ.... I miss her... We had given her antibiotics and everything, but it probably too late when we got her.

I think you should leave all of them alone for the next couple days. Just check to be sure they are alive once a day and hope for the best. If your little one makes it, maybe consider tube feeding her feline a/d (you have to ask the vet for it) mixed with water or pedalyte. Don't do it if you don't know how to tube feed an animal, you could accidently put her in worse shape than she is. If you don't know how, ask the vet to demonstrate.

I was going to suggest possibly some chicken baby food mixed with pedialyte. Snake maybe very low on electrolytes. Also the baby food is easy to digest.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

Why would you force feed it, you've only had it for 2 days. That's the most foolish thing I've heard of.

The only thing you can really do, considering the condition of the snakes, is keep them warm, well hydrated and feed them very small meals every 7 days. For the smallest one that isn't eating I'd assist feed her a small fuzzy mouse and hope that she is strong enough to handle it. If not then their isn't really much that you could have done anyways (she was doomed from the start). The nice thing about pythons is that if you dip their heads into water they will drink. So, make sure they get lots of water, keep feeding them and hope for the best.

I don't know if you can post it here but I'm just curious on who the dealer was who you bought them from. It is buyer beware but in all reality snakes in that condition shouldn't be sold......atleast not by someone reputable.

Good Luck,
Corey

>>The only thing you can really do, considering the condition of the snakes, is keep them warm, well hydrated and feed them very small meals every 7 days. For the smallest one that isn't eating I'd assist feed her a small fuzzy mouse and hope that she is strong enough to handle it. If not then their isn't really much that you could have done anyways (she was doomed from the start). The nice thing about pythons is that if you dip their heads into water they will drink. So, make sure they get lots of water, keep feeding them and hope for the best.
>>
>>I don't know if you can post it here but I'm just curious on who the dealer was who you bought them from. It is buyer beware but in all reality snakes in that condition shouldn't be sold......atleast not by someone reputable.
>>
>>Good Luck,
>>Corey

It was just a nameless vendor @ the show.

Also, to the post above yours: It actaully isn't that foolish. This thing was very skinny and ribs completely sunken in. This was not a case of jumping the gun on force/assist feeding.

BTW, just to prove that it was @ the dire straits, today it passed away. If anything, the force feeding came too late, not too early!

Corey: You are right on with your post. I did exactly what you mentioned here and hoped for the best. However, just as you call it, he didn't make it.
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.