Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering when you guys resort to force feeding. I have one normal hatchling that still hasn't eaten (all her clutchmates are on their second meal). She hatched July 4th, shed on the 10th, and has now refused twice. Obviously I wasn't thinking of force feeding yet, I was just wondering when do you start?
-----
You might be a ball python fanatic if you subconsciously convert the price of virtually everything in to units of piebald ball pythons

I have a female pastel that did the same thing. Her brothers and sister had 4 meals in them before she ate. Relax. She'll be fine. Just offer once a week.
-----
"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I think I had only assist fed a hatchling once in 10 years before I hatched my first pastels last year. I ended up waiting too long though and lost a couple of pastels that where dead the next morning after a small assist feed. The assist it's self went well with fresh killed fuzzy mouse just hooked in the teeth and they swallowed right down.

There was a thread somewhere about poor feeders and a couple people mentioned pastels. I've had some awesome feeding pastels but just wondering if anyone had noticed a trend for a larger percentage of pastel hatchlings to be hard to start than say normals (I know some pastels are great feeders, just wondering about the percentage that aren’t as hatchlings)?

Right now I have a pastel yellow belly right at one month that acts just like my problem pastels last year. He seems very interested whenever I put a hopper in and comes out of his hide and cruises the cage but doesn't seem to know what to do with it. He is from a clutch of huge hatchlings so I think I have some more time to let him start on his own before assist feeding but his chocolate and yellow belly siblings are all great eaters with several meals by now.

I think the problem may be hopper mice. I've never tried to feed anything smaller than a SMALL adult mouse.
All of my babies (except that one pastel) have started fine on small adult mice....and even she took a small adult mouse and is now eating crawler rats as well.
-----
"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I usually start on young adult mice but after the pastels last year got a hopper for the 2nd try with this guy just in case the bigger ones where intimidating him. Like to have something with a lot of fur but suppose could try a rat fuzzy just in case that scent triggers him and then an ASF for good measure before assist feeding.