Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I have one non-feeder that was born July 2,07. She has defecated and shed once. I have tried all the tricks mentioned here to get her to eat, but she was having none of it.
I finally force fed her a pinkie head on Aug.18,07. That went well. However she has yet to defecate. I did feed her another head yesterday because I was hoping that would get her digestion going. Is there something I could do to help her along?
I tried putting her in some warm water, but she scooted right out of there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm starting to get really worried about her.
Thanks!
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Suzanne
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0.1 Creamsicle Corn - Scout
0.1 Caramel Corn - Jade
1.0 Amber Corn - Tucker
1.0 Caramel Corn - Zeke
1.0 Butter Corn - Hunter
0.1 Amber corn - Abby
1.0 Motley Anery - Bear

One of the best things I find that many don't seem to try is tease or some call it slap feed. Okeetees always seem to be feisty at birth, making them easy to try this on.

But in general, if a baby will strike, I cut off a leg of a DEAD pinky. Hold with forceps and tease the little booger. Sooner or later he will get it in his mouth. At first they may try to back off, but most I get to do this eat it eventually.

Also if you can hold the rest of the pinky close to his mouth VERY still, and not disturbing him, he may just continue up on the pinky. I usually do this after a week of doing legs.

Since on the idea of slipping in a second portion, this is a very old way to change foods on a snake that may be stuck on something you want him off of.

Lets say a corn is very large but will not take a rat. Feed a small mouse, and as he has his head up and finishing the tail, hold a dead rat at his mouth. Keep holding it as he gets a good mouth full, then wiggle it a little to get him to constrict it.

We did this a lot in the 70's on burms that liked birds. Feed a chick, then a rabbit, and get them to constrict. It beat the other old way of sewing a dead chick to a rabbit.

So , if he strikes, try a small portion to get stuck in his mouth. Then increase the size. Or add a follow up portion.

Good luck
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.herpzilla.com

"HerpZillA" is right about some things that work well!
There are other tricks as well,...please describe in detail the
things you have tried, have you tried "braining" the pinkie?(slicing down a DEAD pinks head, slightly squeezing it, and smearing brain material on the pinks face??)

Getting them started on mice would be optimum, but lots of corns can be prone to eating anoles(lizards) when very young. Then they can be scented with pink juice and they will gradually associate the two smells as being great on their menu.
After a while you don't have to scent at all, and they will "whack" a plain ol' pinkie down without a second thought.

Remember, they start out in life with a good "head-start" of yolk in their belly from the egg they hatched from. It takes a surprisingly LONG time for a snake to die of starvation.

My point is don't worry, you will get a feeding response in the near future with one of these methods.

Don't forget, feed the snake in a VERY confined space, such as a deli cup(with tiny holes!!LOL)and a tight fitting lid, otherwise when a baby snake is just starting out, especially one that hasn't eaten yet, they will be lost in a surprisingly small cage, and never find the prey!!!

best regards, ~Doug

best regards ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Someone posted a great list once. Not in detail, as I recall, but a very complete list. This question comes up a lot, so why not get a nice list complete with details and post it somewhere?

I'd be glad to, but I'm not here a lot, and ppl may forget. we do that a lot on ebay for FAQs. Also a help center page. In fact, maybe KS would like to host it?

Just a thought.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.herpzilla.com

That's actually a great idea, .....many questions on feeding and other questions are always asked over and over again.just like you said(FAQ).

That would make it MUCH easier for people to get the info, and would GREATLY reduce the repetition of constantly telling people the same things time and time again.

Someone should get on that for sure.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Not sure is appropriate? But I have a lot of sites. Lots of space. I really don't do anything with herps. I'd be glad to host it. But i'm not the expert to cover topics.

Hmm I also have space on my ISP. That would totally unrelated to any herp stuff.

Someone cllect info, I'd make the pages. I'm sure we can find some place nice generic to host it.
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Thanks for reading.
Big Tom

www.herpzilla.com

Hi,
I have tried scenting the pinkie with tuna water, chicken broth, leaving her in a deli cup overnight, nothing.
I dont have a problem with force feeding for now, my actual quesion was how to get her to defecate.
It's been well over a week and I have never had a snake take so long. I take her out every night for at least an hour to get her moving around but nothing yet.
When does this get dangerous?
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Suzanne
------------------------------
0.1 Creamsicle Corn - Scout
0.1 Caramel Corn - Jade
1.0 Amber Corn - Tucker
1.0 Caramel Corn - Zeke
1.0 Butter Corn - Hunter
0.1 Amber corn - Abby
1.0 Motley Anery - Bear

I really wouldn't worry too much about the pooping right now. It's hardly eaten anything, so will have almost no waste product. I assume you have it on paper towel or napkins. If it is in aspen, the tiny amount of poop it will produce will be almost invisible.
I had two problem feeders from my batch of 15 this year. One had eaten once, the other twice. They went the entire month of July without eating a thing. One of them was on a hunger strike lasting maybe 6 or 7 weeks. I had tried "everything" with my supply of frozen pinks. Went to the reptile show and picked up a couple of live ones. BAM! They both ate right away. Two days later, they both ate pinks that had been warmed in a cup of water. Now none of my babies are missing a meal. The point is..Don't forget the power of LIVE pinks for those problem babies. Whatever turns on the switch, I say. Duffy

I woke up to poop this morning. Never been so happy to see it!
I'll try a live pinkie and see if that helps.
Thanks everyone for your answers!
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Suzanne
------------------------------
0.1 Creamsicle Corn - Scout
0.1 Caramel Corn - Jade
1.0 Amber Corn - Tucker
1.0 Caramel Corn - Zeke
1.0 Butter Corn - Hunter
0.1 Amber corn - Abby
1.0 Motley Anery - Bear

I would suggest that you get off the force-feeding, at least until you have tried live. Sometimes just one or two live feedings seems to "throw the switch" and after that they will eat f/t on their own. Mine just ate today, and are eating as regularly as their sibilngs now. I do have them in slightly smaller containers than their clutchmates to make the prey easier to find, but they are eating like champs. It's amazing to me how much bigger the ones who DIDN'T fast for a month are. Keep us posted. Duffy

Ok, I will try the live feeding.
Anything to get her to eat on her own!
I'll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks.
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Suzanne
------------------------------
0.1 Creamsicle Corn - Scout
0.1 Caramel Corn - Jade
1.0 Amber Corn - Tucker
1.0 Caramel Corn - Zeke
1.0 Butter Corn - Hunter
0.1 Amber corn - Abby
1.0 Motley Anery - Bear