Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I did it. I didnt mean to. My intentions were good, but I killed one of my pair of Cherry Countys.
I've been stuffing rat tails down their throats since I got them. Most of the time I do about 3/4 of a small rats tail and there are no issues. I've been doing this for so long I guess I got eager and cut off about 7/8 of the rats tail and stuffed it down this guys throat (I didnt really STUFF it down there, I didnt want to rupture the back of it's stomach) but it did seem a little big. Rather than pulling it back out and shortening it, I assumed if the snake was kept warm enough it would digest and process the tail and be fine. I guess not.

So, this guys gone to the big toilet in the sky now. I really wish the other one would convert over to voluntary feeding. Im getting real frustrated

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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

sorry for your loss its always hard loosing a great looking critter.I really doubt that a rat tail did it in though?

Shannon

Hate to see any snake get the deep six. Really tough when it's a nice Pale that you've been working w/ week after week. Let's face it, it's no joy to force tails on neonates, but we do it because we want to see the animal grow to an adult.
To bad, but keep up the work on the other neonates, it's a rewarding feeling when they take a pink on their own.

This is not a criticism, just a suggestion.
Size down the tails a little, and cut the base of the tail at an angle to make it easier to slide in. Oh, and I wet it a little at the base too.

-Dell

Thanks for the tips. No hard feelings about them.
I still have access to their other clutch mates, so maybe I can still get something (read: Breed it) out of this one thats left when it's bigger. I dont even remember which one was the male and which was the female.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Dell, good advice if you are using fuzzy tails.

But my suggestion for using weanling to adult tails would be to cut the tail so the end is square. When you cut at an angle, it exposes sharp bone. Try it both ways and feel.

Also, another suggestion is to orient the tail so the hair is not going against the grain.

Lampro,
I've never felt any sharp bones on snipped tails, could happen though I suppose. Never lost a neonate to forced tails either.

I have forced hopper tails, but found them to soft, which made them hard to force, and to small, so not much nutritional value for the effort.

Orient the tail so the hair isn't going againts the grain? Which end are you starting w/? If you start the feeding at the base of the tail the hair shoud be laying to the tip of the tail. If you start w/ the tip of the tail then you would be going againts the grain.
Both ways work, how many mice have we seen taken arse first, but one works better then the other for forcing tails on neonates. -Dell

FWIW, I've been feeding them base-of-the-tail first so the hair flows correctly and the fat end goes first. I've been cutting the rat tails off square with scissors, which now that I think about it, this was the first time I used an exacto knife and severed the tails instead.
Also, I only use a little pressure and let the tail slide in, rather than feeling like Im shoving the tail down something it's not supposed to go down.

I put the other one in with an eastern fence lizard scented pinky earlier today. Still no love
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

I think it sounds like your doing fine. I just wanted go give you a few more simple ideas to try that maybe you didn't try yet.

I don't know what to think of the Fence lizards. I would think they would work great, but have tried them w/ out much luck on my stock.
Skinks have worked very well how ever. And have done very well on pinkheads followed by tails if they don't take the head.

-Dell

I recognize that snake, Dell! She's looking good.

-Cole

>>I put the other one in with an eastern fence lizard scented pinky earlier today. Still no love

You wash the pinkie first? You using guts for scenting?

white footed mice

deer mice

russian hamsters

chinese hamsters

(even gerbil ,syrian hamster or pygmy mice etc etc etc scented pinks (syrian and gerbil pinks are big).use the scent on mouse pinks........try

......and they can eat bigger thanh you think as for the pink's size

......I got 3 syspila and 3 multistrata this past winter from JH and they all ate right away..even the one that would not eat.it is still on Peromyscus.....but it eats them, even big pinks......all on it's own...

try alternate rodents......

when scenting..use dirty bedding and if that don't work...use the blood......you can cut open one deer mouse hopper (whatever) and scent lots and lots of regular mice with the brains,guts,blood,etc...

good luck.......

JY
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I have tried rat tails, it doesn't always work. I have had more sucsess with scenting than anything else, and will only use rat tails as a last resort. try scenting with anything that you think they might be interested in.(anoles, geckos, fence lizards, tree frogs, salamanders, meadow voles, bearded dragons, baby chicks, sparrows, iguanas, skinks, ext, ext, ext) This also works well for any problematic feeders. also you might want to try breeding african pygmy doormice, their pinkies are about the size of a pea!

Does anybody in the U.S. sell African Pygmy Dormice?
I've only seen them for sale on U.K websites.
-Phil
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Work is the curse
of the drinking class!

.

Way back when I got this pair I actually looked into the doormice, until I had a really hard time finding anyone who bred them and also found out the wild populations carry the black plague, IIRC.

When I just used the eastern fence lizard, I forgot to wash the pinky, but I cut the lizards stomach open and stuffed the pinky head into the cavity and swirled it around and tried that. Next time I'll wash the pinky first.

Thanx dudes for all your insight!
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

just a followup that lab raised deer mice can be purchased from the Univ. of South Carolina. Follow this link:

stkctr dot biol dot sc dot edu

I'm not sure they will sell to you if you tell them it's for feeding snakes, and they can be quite expensive since they must be shipped via air. Anyhow, just thought I'd provide this info....

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Paul Weaver
Carolina Herps

is that a coastal plains milk? I love red heads

Yes, a North Carolina locale.
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Paul Weaver
Carolina Herps