Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well today I had to force feed one of my hatchlings. She was the smallest snake in the batch of 6 babies.

I gave her every possible food item, every possible trick from the deli-cup to the brown paper bags, from rat fuzzies to hopper mice.

I first tried ASSIST feeding, which I have done in the past with great success. But no matter what I did she would spit the food item out.

She really was looking bad, with the sunk in rear half of her body and the folds of skin showing. One of her brothers has still not eaten, but because he also has more body weight and does not look bad at all yet.

Here is how I stand.

2.4 66% HET Albino BP's all siblings, hatched on 7/24/04

Female #1 :

First meal live hopper mouse, 2nd meal live rat fuzzy, 3rd meal live hopper mouse, 4th meal hopper rat with eyes just open, 5th meal hopper rat again. Hopefully she will never see another mouse again.

Female #2 : First meal live hopper mouse, today tried a rat fuzzy no go, but then tried the hopper mouse and she took. Two meals, finally starting to bulk up a little.

Female #3 : Same exact feeding schedule as female above.

Female #4 : First successful FORCE feed. Forced a much smaller meal then she could have taken. Pre-killed pinkie rat.

Male #1 : Today was one of the males first feedings, I could tell it looked like he was going to slam the hopper mouse, but just didnt have the heart to do it. So I teased him a little with a freshly killed hopper mouse and to my suprise he slammed it.

Male #2 : Still a no go, shows no interest in feeding yet, but still has good body weight so WILL not attempt assisting or force feeding yet.

I feel so releived that the little female now has a small pinkie in her tummy. This is the first time I myself have been able to complete the task of actually force feeding a snake.

But really what does it mean for me in the long run? Will she maybe eat on her own in a few days after this? Should I do it again in a few days?

Should I just leave her alone and try live hoppers every 4-5 days? She was so SO skinny, but atleast now I have bought myself some time from the pinkie rat.

Here are 2 pictures of the females, they were both very close in size at hatching a month ago.

No Don't force feed again, unless you have to! From here you let her digest the pinkie rat you gave her. Then again start offering live food. If she starts looking bad again you may have to force feed her. I know a guy that bought an albino ball years ago. He got him real cheap as he would not feed and wasn't looking to good. The Ball was force fed for a year before he fed on his own. You never know but keep offering food items! Good luck with this little one!
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John Light
Pristine Pythons
ristinePythons@Hotmail.com">Contact Me

New Web Site Comming Soon!

I know its exciting to hatch babies and being your first you are probably looking at them 24/7
LEAVE THEM ALONE, dont bother them, dont LOOK at them, just let them be.
Then they may have enough guts to eat but the constant opening, closing,trying all the tricks in the book within such a short period is to much and your not gonna have success by doing this.
Just leave them alone with water, set up like all the other babies, a nice dark tight hide box, and the day their little noses are peeking out, that is when they are READY to feed.
Folds of skin is not to unnatural....
its actually not rare for a snake to not eat for a long time after its born.
Just leave them be, dont look at them, just leave them alone and maybe they will settle enough to eat for you.
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"Quality isn't Quality without customer service so I guess I sell quality"

This girl isn't even two months old and if you tried every trick in the book, you probabably stressed her to the point of fearing the opening of her enclosure. This is traumatic on hatchlings. She looks fine in the pic - small yes, but otherwise healthy looking.

Damon, I have followed your threads and I have some solutions for your troubles:

1) Switch to decaf.
2) Get more/less sleep.
3) Go to the gym to work off all that excessive energy.
4) Get a girlfriend. This will give your snakes a break. You can pester her until she won't eat

All kidding aside, she will eat when ready but you have to give her the opportunity to get ready.

Good luck!
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Jay A. Martin

Imagine if he was hatching Blackheads that don't eat until 6 months of age and after 4 or 5 sheds? He'd go insane.

LOL...maybe I should of followed his earlier threads! Under 2 months old...hmm...not knowing needed info could kill you!
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John Light
Pristine Pythons
ristinePythons@Hotmail.com">Contact Me

New Web Site Comming Soon!

Hatched on 7/24 and you're already trying to assist and force feed??? Oh my. Settle down, please, and give the animal a chance. I had one go around 7 weeks without feeding - believe me I was worried. She was a *very* relucatant feeder even after she did start eating, too. But I NEVER (go back and read that over & over again - NEVER) force fed her. Then one day she finally decided to start eating with a vengeance, to the point she weighs more than most of her siblings. Mother nature has a way of working things out most of the time, just give it a chance. Force feeding is VERY hard on the animal! Avoid it unless your vet says to do it.
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