Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I have two babies that just won't eat. I've tried frozen, I've tried live, I've tried every trick I've read, from cutting open the pinky to chicken soup. (that was nasty) If anyone has anythign new, let me know, but if not, how hard is it to force feed a baby? Is it worth it, because that doesn't really trigger a normal feeding reaction, in my opinion. Any thoughts would be great!

AJ

I don't know about the chicken soup thing. Cooked food doesn't seem like anything a snake would be interested in. BUT I have had some luck with small pieces of RAW chicken breast (you can also use pieces of chicken heart or gizzard). I have four non feeders that will only eat the chicken at this point but I am going to be chicken scenting pinks for their next meal.
That being said, I have found that force feeding a pinky is difficult and stressful to owner & snake, BUT force feeding sections of mouse or rat tails is easy. I had an entire clutch that decided they would eat nothing and I tried all the tricks. So I used rat tails pieces and now half of them are eating on their own. I prefer rat tails over mouse tails because they are 'meatier'. They are firm and shaped like the snakes neck so are easy to gently force down. You need to hold the snake carefully pinched between you fingers by the head area. I use the end of the tail to carefully 'pry' open the mouth, slip the tail into the throat and slowly push it down by the other end of the tail. You will probably need to push it all the way into the mouth before releasing the snake because if some is sticking out they can & will spit it out.
Good luck