Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I will be adopting a baby 2.5 mth old albino nelson from a young boy whose having trouble getting it to feed.

He got it from a guy who said that he fed the milksnake mice scented with lizard droppings..yup that's what he said...so Im kinda confused...is it even safe for droppings to be involved in scenting??

The milksnake juvie has been tried on thawed mice pinkie without success, even braining the pinkie has no effect. So has keeping the milksnake in a small ocntainer with the thawed pinkie.

I will try with live mice pinkie once I receive it.

However I would like the advice of anyone here...pls help!

Make sure the snake has access to a thermal gradient. That seems to help bolster the feeding response.

Re: using feces to scent... That sounds like an awesome way to transmit parasites, if you ask me. Using a live lizard works sometimes, but I'd invest in a house gecko (Hemidactylus) or skink to drop in the freezer. Once the lizard is frozen, you can break it in half and thaw it out. Use the guts to scent a pink. The same lizard can be used over and over this way, and the freezing (if cold and long enough) will kill off most parasites.

-Cole

Good advice from Cole. Freeze the lizard for 3 days and thaw it for scenting then quickly re-freeze it. I come across the occasional stubborn feeder and resort to force feeding tails if they refuse pink heads or tiny thawed pinks. The tails get the digestive system going and introduces them to the prefered food.
Wash a small thawed pink with Ivory soap then scent it well and leave it overnight in the hide.
Live often triggers a hunting response also. Leave a pinch of soiled mouse bedding in the cage and park a thawed pink there overnight.
I'd skip the lizard poo but it works for some people.....
Good luck, Jeff
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I hold it to be the inalienable right of anybody to go to hell in his own way. - Robert Frost, 1935

i have always put hard to feed babies in a small container with a pinkie on the warm side the tank and put their hide on top of it. make sure your temps r right and keep it dark. this always worked for me even with picky nelsons. but i never had any give me a real hard time either. also when picking out snakes i like to pick young fat babies

Offer the snake a warm, humid hide. Coconut fiber (Eco-Earth or related products) work great. This often makes a big difference.

Dry conditions and cool temps make baby snakes less likely to feed. Babies are moisture-loss sensitive.

Cool temps in the cage are OK if the humid hide is warm.

A related twist on this is to use a deli cup filled with moist sphagnum moss. Cut a hole in the lid and place the thawed pinky on top of the moss in the cup. Leave the snake and cup alone. The snake will hide in the cup all day and venture out eventually to investigate the pink. I always wash the pink in cool water first. This combination seems to get really great results. Adding lizard flavor as suggested by the others should make an irresistable morsel for the snake.

Humidity plus warmth plus washed pink plus lizard flavor is a winning combo most of the time for a variety of colubrids. There will always be the stubborn hatchling though. I had a few of those that eventually fed months later, but resisted all attempts during the first 3-4 months of trying.
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Mark

Did you ever get the snake to feed. I hatched out a clutch of 5 nelson and they refused to eat for several weeks. I placed them in a deli cup took a live pink, peeled back a small piece of the pinkie's forehead and they ALL eat within an hour. Split head technique worked well for me...

Splitting pinkie heads ??? How many times have you watched the "SAW" movies? Try some Disney animated movies next time.

Mike