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Baby ball that won't feed! HELP!

ram Nov 21, 2004 09:12 PM

I've had this baby ball for about 2 months now. It's an albino het so I don't want to lose it. About a week after I got it it ate its first meal, a small mouse. unfortunately it escaped but I found it 5 days later crawling along the hallway. I placed it in its tank and it seemed active and was drinking. It's been about a month and I haven';t been able to get it to eat anything and it;s losing weight. I know the temps are correct, i've got a temp gun, and there are plenty of hiding spots everywhere. I try feeding at night and day, dusk and dawn and no luck. I don't want to forcefeed. Does anyone know of a way I can tempt it to eat? I think I'm going to try to open its mouth and hold a mouse in there to see if eventually it will start to swallow it. any advice would be great. Thanks.

Anyone know of any good herp vets in East MA?

Replies (2)

dangerously Nov 21, 2004 10:21 PM

Have you tried assist feeding a PK pinkie? That tends to be a lot less stressful on the snake than force-feeding. Sounds like you're thinking about it, but your technique may not be correct. Read up on it BEFORE you do it (so you do it properly) and see if you think it'd be a viable option at this point. I'd try a rat and mouse pinkie first, though (on seperate days), just to make sure you've covered both common types of food. One more thing.. you're not trying to handle this snake are you? If so, you should let it settle in for a week or two, then try feeding. At this point, though, you may want to skip that wait.
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ram Nov 21, 2004 10:36 PM

No, i havent handled it one bit
It's been in my room which is quit and peaceful, I;'m never in it except at night. I dont even rmove it from it's home to feed it so it feels more secure.

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