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I have a 5 week old Pastel that I hatched out & she refuses to eat. I tried live Hoppers & Fuzzies but she's afraid of them. 4 days ago I put a thawed fuzzie into her mouth. She does an alligator death roll & backs up until it's out of her mouth. We did this 3 times. I put her back so she wouldn't be too stressed. I was stressed too.
Her sister was stubborn too but she wrapped & ate when I put the thawed fuzzie in her mouth so I guess I'm doing it the right way. I hold her behind her head.
Any suggestions?? I want to try again today. Is she just not hungry?
Also I have a possible het. pied clutch due any day now. A few prayers would be appreciated, lol.
Thank you.......... Beth

>>I have a 5 week old Pastel that I hatched out & she refuses to eat. I tried live Hoppers & Fuzzies but she's afraid of them. 4 days ago I put a thawed fuzzie into her mouth. She does an alligator death roll & backs up until it's out of her mouth. We did this 3 times. I put her back so she wouldn't be too stressed. I was stressed too.
>>Her sister was stubborn too but she wrapped & ate when I put the thawed fuzzie in her mouth so I guess I'm doing it the right way. I hold her behind her head.
>>Any suggestions?? I want to try again today. Is she just not hungry?
>>Also I have a possible het. pied clutch due any day now. A few prayers would be appreciated, lol.
>>Thank you.......... Beth

hey Beth,try a smaller food item.So that she is more unable to rid herself of it.(As it will be lighter in weight,and barely any of it will not be inside of her mouth already.Which will make it more difficult for her to expell it.)..African soft fur fuzzies or mouse pinkys will do it.

Don't forget to hook the teeth really good as you release...good luck
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Charles Glaspie
picasaweb.google.com/coldthumb

Hi Charles,
I did go down to a thawed pinky. I just now put it in her mouth & then took the blunt end of a wood skewer & pushed it down into her throat. I put her in the bin & checked & it's down.
She needed some nourishment or I wouldn't have taken such drastic measures. It's like she has no swallow reflex.
I've gotten some difficult eaters to feed & never experienced anything like this.
Thanks for your reply.
Beth

I'd be skeptical of the wooden skewer method. It may have worked this time, but forcing a prey item down its throat is just asking for problems.

Take a small prey item, place it as far back in the snake's mouth as you can. At this point, you firmly hold the top and bottom of the snake's mouth down on the food while also tugging firmly at the mouse's tail. It is a delicate procedure, but your actions do need to be firm and decisive. It also helps if you have another person to hold the body of the snake, which will be wriggling like crazy the entire time. The point of assist feeding is to get the item stuck in the snake's teeth and hooked in to the point that the snake's only option is to swallow it. Place the snake back in the enclosure, if it doesn't drop the mouse within the first few seconds the snake will most likely eat it. If it is dropped then try again. In my experience, it usually takes a few tries before the food will go down. If after 4-5 attempts, I will walk away and try again in a few days.

I agree the way I got the pinky down wasn't the best. She's looking thin, so I was desparate. She got it out of her mouth, every other way I tried.
I'll feed again in 4 days & try your way.
Thanks..... Beth

For assist feeding use a small fuzzy mouse pre-killed and put a little mineral oil on the nose of the rodent. Carefully push it into the snakes mouth back into the throat a ways(I uae tweezers to do this)....then very gently put the snake back in its box without too much moovement. The snake will sit there for a moment or two wondering what just happened. Then hopefully, the snake will begin pulling the fuzzy into the mouth. Lots of balls need to be "taught how to eat" by this method. Shortly after a few assist feeds, they will begin eating like a champ.

Feed at night after dark...it helps feeding responses a lot.