Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Most of the people on these forums already know about some of the little things that can make all the difference between a hatchling eating, and not eating, and know that getting this feeding response going is of utmost importance for them to thrive.

Well, these particular hatchlings have already eaten on their own a few different times, so this certainly wasn't a life or death situation, but they have refused any offerings from one batch of pinks I had for several attempts, and it was now the eighth day since they fed. So I'm thinking, hmmm, these guys should be plenty hungry enough now to want another meal. These pinks were from a much older batch than the previous ones they ate earlier, so when I saw that NONE out of the seven neonates had went ahead and eaten any of these, I went ahead and made the thawed pinks smell a little different by tearing the skin from the head(similar to braining), to unleash a fresh, different scent. Well, as soon as they saw THESE offerings, it was "game on", and they consumed them in short order.

I just thought it would be helpful to remind a few folks that these seemingly simple little tricks can sometimes make all the difference in the world to some snakes as far as turning on the feeding resonse "switch".

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Good advice Doug and awesome hatchling there.

In addition to getting stubborn hatchlings to eat, braining has also helped me convert live only feeders to f/t as well. This is the case for this 08 holdback nelsoni that would only eat live for the longest time and now takes f/t brained fuzzies everytime!

Dave

DNS Reptiles

Absolutely Dave!,...

I even still have an '07 young adult aberrant animal that still prefers brained adult mice..LOL!

It's funny how different animals have different little quirks about them. Some snakes come chasing me down or a meal, while others still insist the rodent just lay there, then in their own sweet time, they will go over to it and "nose" it around a bit, then finally go ahead and consume it.

Whatever works I guess, as long as it isn't too inconvenient!..LOL!

BTW, nice nelsons!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

One of my snakes insists that he 'pursue' the mouse for at least 6 inches before he's sure it's 'looking away' so that he can strike, if you can call what he does a real strike (my guess is that he's never had to kill anything in his life).
My other snake has to be the sneaky type, if it surprises her she freaks out and pushes it away, the best strategy seems to be wiggling it on the opposite side of the tank, but only when she's being picky.
I love how something so not warm and fuzzy has such a huge personality (though I may be anthropomorphizing a bit..lol).

I can certainly relate to everything you mentioned!..LOL!

Their individual behaviors are just amazing to me too!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I never get tired of hearing ways people have gotten stubborn snakes to eat. We can always use new little tricks to try!!

Yeah, I totally agree, it always helps to have a good arsenal of tricks to try on some of the real tough ones.

Although nothing I've done yet has seemed to work for a few of my hatchling brooksi yet..LOL!

My Outer Banks were the same freakin' way when they were hatchlings too. Eventually though, something "clicks" in their tiny little heads and from then on, they are insane feeders.

These are some of the same ones(including my adult brooks) that I now have to put the enclosure down on the floor first, because they come shooting out like missiles to actually chase me down for mice!....they are just unreal!..LOL! I really enjoy all their different personalities!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Another trick involves 2 thawed pinkies. If the "braining" of pinky doesn't work, try this. Take the first thawed pinky and make a very small incision through the belly. Then take the second pinky and try to push the second pinky's head into the small incision of the first pinky. The idea is for the second pinky's head to be drenched with the smell of the guts of the first pinky. Then offer the second pinky to your hatchling. I sometimes find some success using this trick as well.

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RAY - "Laziness is nothing more than a habit of resting before getting tired!"

That sounds like a good one too, I'll keep that one in mind as well for future use. I've done that with lizards before too.

It's funny, ya never know exactly which chemical cue will eventually stimulate some of the real stubborn ones. That's part of what makes this whole snake thing fascinating to me.

Thanks Ray!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

and for all our clever efforts to scent food items, i sometimes had success washing (with scent free ivory liquid) pinkies that had been rejected.

Yep!,...sure thing Terry!,...good ol' Ivory soap is another tried and true method as well. It doesn't make much sense to us humans, but it sure has been known to work well on certain snakes..LOL!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

...read about this on the Hognose forum a couple of months ago. It's by far the most interesting feeding trick I've ever heard of. Gonna have to try it if I ever get back to breeding.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1722941,1722941

Wayne
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You know, there's a million fine looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em just cheat on you.

Yes, the Vienna sausage water sound like it has produced some good results too. Sort of like the canned tuna water "trick" that has worked in the past for some people, I know it has on cornsnakes at least, and more than likely some other types too.........the crazy list of things is almost endless. After all, necessity IS the mother of invention!..LOL!

Over the many years, I've found that the feeding response "switch" can be triggered by just about anything it seems. The important thing is that it gets turned on by SOMETHING. I always tell people, the most important thing is to keep the snake ALIVE. You can ALWAYS work on switching food preference later on if you have to.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"