Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Every year us breeders go through the torment of getting our little ones to eat on our schedule. Every year I have to relearn the best technique for getting baby indigos to feed: waiting.

This year I tried assist feeding goldfish to the indigos. All I managed to do was hold a fish in front of the snake for 10 minutes. The snake bit the fish... then spit it out.

After that, all I've tried was thawed pinks scented with my favorite scent, Herring. This year the herring I'm using is 3 years old and seems to be working. 7 of the 8 babies I'm working with have voluntarily eaten the scented pinks. I'd try 2 or 3 snakes at a time and usually half would take the pink. So I've only got one hold out left and it has a month before I even begin to worry about it.

Anyway, just thought I'd toss this tidbit out.

Doug T

i've been using minnows w/ a fair degree of success. several babies have just started taking pinks on their own though as i always keep trying that too all the while. not one has taken a scented pink however this year. it's either a fish or a mouse, no in-between.......so far. i have several though that have to have the minnow placed in their mouths, held, they sit there for what seems forever, then they either spit it out or swallow. i work on a few each day as it is really time consuming and aggravating. next year i'm hatching out bullsnakes instead of cribos. they literally eat right out of the egg....what a relief that will be!

Good info.

My baby yt's are seeing to like live, big stuff like hoppers.

also...chick scent and anole and / or gecko scent has worked on some...

I've also heard a report of a bunch of babies sucking down baby cb African clawed frogs from another breeder.