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i have hatched 1.2mandarin ratsnakes. i find them reluctant to eat pinkies. Does anyone have some advice on starting baby mandarins. they are set up in shoe boxes on cypress mulch with a hide and water bowl.temps in high seventies to eighty degrees. Thanks. Rin

Rin:
You should be able to get several good answers on this forum. I'll just add a couple of my favorits. Keep them cool. I use 70 F for temperature. I don't use a hot spot. Try washing the live pinks with soap and water and wash copiously with clean water to get all the soap off. Put the pinks in a little container with a paper towel liner and sunk flush with the substrate and cover it with a piece of paper towel to make a little nest for the mice. I've had very good success with newborn dwarf hamster pinks. If all else fails use the one month brumation in December. If even that fails I start force feeding them with mouse tails dipped in egg whites (makes it easier to insert them into the snake).

Good luck
John

>>i have hatched 1.2mandarin ratsnakes. i find them reluctant to eat pinkies. Does anyone have some advice on starting baby mandarins. they are set up in shoe boxes on cypress mulch with a hide and water bowl.temps in high seventies to eighty degrees. Thanks. Rin
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Although I don't keep mandarins I have also heard that brumating them shortly does get them started well...
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