Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i recently got a spotted python that's only a few weeks old and haven't been able to get it to eat yet. i realize sometimes it takes a while, but was wondering how long it can go without eating until it becomes a real issue. Also, can anyone offer advice on getting it to feed? I've already tried tail teasing (so far it has no aggressive bone in it's body so it won't even strike)and putting it in a deli cup with a pinkie in the dark. neither of which has worked yet. the next "trick up my sleeve" is a split brain, but i'm sure with the multitude of people out there, someone's got some more ideas. Thanks.

they can go months at a time im told....best thing to do is leave it alone for 4 works...give it water...thats it ...let it get hungry

i know that well started animals can go months without feeding but does that apply to neonates as well? thanks

Most spotted pythons will start out on pinkies in captivity. Most are great feeders. I do not sell non-feeders or ones that have been forced feed untill they are truly eating on their own, for some time. Some have gone one or two years before they are ready to sell. I rarely breed poor eaters unless they carry some other factor that I must have. Not all breeders go the extra step. A well known breeder, sold me a non-feeder that never did eat on its own and died its first year. When confronted at a show, when I was purchasing additional stock from him, he said "That's just the luck of the draw." I have not bought from him again, even though he has some great looking stuff.

Unfortunately most small rodent eating snakes, do not start out with rodents in the wild. Spotted pythons most times start out with small geckos in the wild. Think of such a small snake going into a rodent nest to get a pinky only to find mama guarding the nest!

Nature has programmed these small snakes with the taste for lizards or other prey for their first few meals. For some reason a well washed pinky that has been brained, smells a lot like a lizard to a snake.

To force-feed I use a few methods. First I use the smallest pinky and use the head to pry the well held snakes mouth open and work the rodent down. Sometimes the snake will finsh the job other times they will just spit it out. After a few times I put the snake back untill the next day, if it has not eaten.

Next I cut the head off a thin insulin syringe, these are a smaller diameter than a pencil and pack it with a mashed up pinky. Then replace the plunger and use the cut end to pry the lips of the snake open [wach the little teeth, do not break any!]and just barely work the open end of the syringe past the throat opening and gently plunge the food down. Most of the times the snake will not up-chuck. Some do and do not adjust to this method.

For the hard to force-feed I again use an insulin syringe only this thime I only cut the plastic shaft the holds the needle off, not the whole end like above. I then fill it with turky baby food, right out of the jar. And then use the method above.

Before I force feed again I wave a pinky around, if its a no-feed I brain the pinky and try again. If again its a no-feed I repeat one of the force-feed methods.

You may try worms, insects or live pinkies. I have not had much luck with lizard sented pinkies. Most spotted babies want geckos. I have had some that will not eat any thing dead or alive, geckos included. Some starve to death even after force feeding. Then some force-feed snakes just start eating on their own. When they do start feeding on their own most becon the best eaters.

Do not water the snakes the day of the feed, water the next day!

The longest I have had to force-feed was 14 months. Most never need force feeding. This year I had a whole clutch of six non-feeders from parents who two years ago produced eight babies, four of which were non-feeders. After a year of force feeding two became eaters, so I had six of the eight. During the next year the other two died. The four that remained are doing fine and I will be selling two of them. All of this years clutch has died. Next year I am going to replace the male, he goes off-feed during breeding season [many times this is normal], but I am going to replace him anyway. I hope he was the bad-feed carrier?

My others do fine as parents and I have few non-feeders, sometimes, I feel that it is natures way of dealing with a snake born with bad traits, to starve them off, even when force feed?

I have noticed that males tend to be more prone to be non-feeders.

>>i recently got a spotted python that's only a few weeks old and haven't been able to get it to eat yet. i realize sometimes it takes a while, but was wondering how long it can go without eating until it becomes a real issue. Also, can anyone offer advice on getting it to feed? I've already tried tail teasing (so far it has no aggressive bone in it's body so it won't even strike)and putting it in a deli cup with a pinkie in the dark. neither of which has worked yet. the next "trick up my sleeve" is a split brain, but i'm sure with the multitude of people out there, someone's got some more ideas. Thanks.

I don't know if it carries to Spotteds but my Childrens start well if I house them in loose cover for the first month. Basically I take them out of the incubator and put them into a plastic shoebox with a water dish and the rest full of a layer of an inch or so damp long fiber spaghnum moss. That's it. A few days after their first shed I drop in a live newborn mouse at dusk and leave them overnight. Probably half of them start right away. Otherwise I give them 4 or 5 days and offer again.
Before I set the neonates in cover like this they would go forever before starting and I really got worried. I haven't had a baby go more than a couple weeks since housing them like this.

I know that you can try them in a deli cup with a beheaded live pinkie also. This tends to work a charm with Corns or Kings that I have worked with that were too spastic to start normally.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Moisture is part of the equation IMO. Keeping the babies well hydrated makes for better conditions, and this means better chances with feeding on their own. Keeping them in a substrate that can be moistened helps. Sphagnum is great for that. You can let it dry out between mistings.

Again, that is part of it. But like another person stated, baby mice may not be the desired 1st prey item for all babies. Some don't care, while other babies are more stubborn. Some babies may not feed in response to cage conditions that may trigger a fast - i.e. too dry a cage - or for some other reason that we don't know yet.

So I would give the babies access to moist areas and keep trying. Maybe gecko scent will help if you don't want to hold out waiting for them to take mice.

When my Childrens first hatch out it usualy takes awhile for them to start feeding on their own. I dont raise my own mice (althought id like to - circumstances dont permit me) so I am very patient with them. I wasnt sure how long a neonate could go without food either until I had some go about 4 or 5 months just fine. It wasnt until then that I learned a good method to get them started when theyre picky. I certainly wont wait 4 or 5 months in the future but even a couple or so is perfectly fine. Sometimes they realy do just get hungry. Again, this applies to getting them started on f/t. But even live pinks are no guarentee.

Simply cut off the tail of an adult mouse (preferably dead) and while holding the neonate firmly behind the neck (but gently.....but firmly) apply the thick end of the tail to the mouth against the lips with a little pressure until its mouth pops open. For some reason it seams that the mouse tail has a much quicker rate of response getting that mouth to open than an actual pinky being shoved in.
Then just quickly push the tail into the back of the throat a lttle ways (with a slight twisting motion if needs be) and then let go of the tail. If you can set the snake down that would be great but if not then dont be afraid if it hangs on to your finger while trying to swallow for a second. wait a moment until it starts to swallow and then set it down. Its not going anyware.

That tail will trigger the natural swallowing response and it will go down fairly quickly. For that reason you should also hav your dead pinky on hand since we're not finished yet. As the neonate is nearing the end of the tail bring the pinky head in close to the snakes mouth, not necessarily touching it (sometimes they shrink away) but wait for the oppurtune moment when the mouth opens for another swallow and let the lips come down on the pinky. That way the snake doesnt feel like your shuving it down its throat but that its just continueing to swallow.

Ive had very good success with this and I dont feel Ive caused my babies much trauma. Sometimes I even use this method with baby balls although a little trickier.

Hope it helps.
Brendan

thanks a lot! sounds easy enough. i'll try it in the next couple of days. wish me luck!