Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Still no luck with the feeding of my wee Ayida. I tried the braining/tuna scenting of the warmed pinkie idea last night but to no avail. Woke up this morning with the biggest hopes but nothing....little grody pinkie carcass and Ayida wanting to get out of her feed box.

I'll try again in a few days because *I* think she looks skinny. Having no point of reference, I'm just going on my instincts here. Should I be worried still even if she hasn't eaten in over three weeks? She seems active at the appropriate times of day but geez...she is ONLY seven weeks old! I know some go for longer than that but because she's young, should I be concerned with her not eating at all?
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Know first, who you are, then adorn yourself accordingly....Epictetus

Have you tried using a live pinkie?

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
7 balls
2.1.10 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, 6 normal, 4 anery )
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
1 fish
1 mouse
3.3 cats

Yep. Tried one plain and one dipped in tuna juice.
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Know first, who you are, then adorn yourself accordingly....Epictetus

Sometimes they go so long without eating that they no longer have the strenght to eat on their own. A friend had 7 baby hogs he couldn't get to eat so I offered to try to get them eating. Three were so skinny they ended up dying. The other 4 are doing great and have eaten over 20 pinks on their own. Heres what I did to get them going. This may seem cruel to some people but the alternative is letting your snake die. I take a hopper mouse and cut about half his tail off. I dip the piece in water for moisture then slide it down the baby hogs throat. It took about 6 times of doing this before the hogs got a taste for mice and started eating on their own. It may take some longer or shorter. I usually offer a tiny cherry pink after I've done this 3 times. If they take the pink GREAT if not I keep feeding the tails. The good news is it ALWAYS works if you start it before the hog gets to thin and weak. The mice grow up to be normal with the only difference being a stub tail. It doesn't even bleed much. Hope this helps you get your hog eating. Ron
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The Crawl Space

What else have you tried scenting with?

Have you tried chicken broth? Thats the only thing that worked to get my little hoggie to eat
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

hmmm....nope. Haven't tried chicken broth...yet. Maybe I will when I try again in a few days. Anything at this point, right?
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Know first, who you are, then adorn yourself accordingly....Epictetus

hmmm....I was under the impression that force feeding hogs were as detrimental to their health as having them not eat? If anyone else could toss in their opinions on this subject, I'd love to hear from you before I go ahead with this.
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Know first, who you are, then adorn yourself accordingly....Epictetus

My little guy did not eat for 5 months! Now he eats twice a week and growing like a weed! I even resorted to force feeding, but with no luck. I tried breaking pinkies in half, using just the head, etc.. No luck. Finally I offered him an extra small newborn pinky and he took right to it. I would try an extra small pinky and even a live pinky to stimulate a response. As to force feed or not, honestly it's your call. I would try it and the worse that could happen is the snake not take it. If you do it correctly, no harm is done to the snake. Good luck!

I agree force feeding isn't good. Thats why I use a tail tip, its a natural fit and slides down easily so it doesn't cause stress or regurgitation. I have used toad scent, tuna scent, chicken brooth, and even rosie red minnows with success. My suggestion was because you seemed concerned about the weight of your baby. I just had another friend scent a pink with a piece of trout he bought at the store and it worked for him. Good luck, Ron
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The Crawl Space

Ron is right. Some baby hogs are really frustrating to get feeding on their own. I have used the mouse tail method for many years, and it is sometimes the only way to get the critters to finally accept food. Just corkscrew it down their throats. Do take special care of the hogs jaws, they are pretty fragile. Let us know how it works for you.
Jeff
Cahaba River Ectotherms

This is going to sound like an odd suggestion. I noticed it mentioned on this forum and ignored it, while trying to scent with everything under the sun people suggested in this forum, then gave into this one. Take a pinkie either live or f/t(try both) and wash it in unscented soap to mask the mouse smell. The female I have has been eating regularly since I've tried this.

Thats a good suggestion. Actually the pink should be washed before scenting with another source anyway. Ron
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The Crawl Space

when I have trouble getting hognose-eastern and western-I go to the market-buy some flesh farm raised cat fish (or trout) then cut it into appropriately sized slivers then later I scent pickies using that same species of fish. Once they get used to eating the fish -I add vit. and mineral and calcium powder (commercials herp vitamins) by dipping the back end into the powder so the smell of the powder doesn't put them off.

It hasn't failed me yet.

Just get a frog and freeze it and use it for scenting for a few times and it will jump on the pink if it stinks like a frog or toad. I have never seen or heard of any hognose refusing a properly scented pink with a frog.

Sometimes when my picky feeders just refuse to feed I place them in smaller containers to calm down for a few days. I normally find extremely small snakes just do not do well in racks, aquariums or cages.

Place your baby in a med. sized deli cup with some aspen bedding and a small 2" sauce deli cup in the middle. Then place a small portion of the container above a heat pad and make sure the pad doesn't get too hot that it cooks your little hoggie.

After a few days drop a live newborn in and leave it for a night.

Good luck!

Rich Macias
BLOODLINES

My hognose refused to eat for 105 days. I tried everything, live, dead, scenting, braining, nothing worked. I then offered her a rat pinky. She literally attacked it, gobbled it right down and has been accepting them ever since. If you snake is small you might have to cut one up. Good luck.

One of these ideas has got to work. Keep us posted.

Mike B

Excellent discussion yes, but repeated about 1 zillion times on this particular forum for the last several years and two seconds of a search would have pulled a wealth of information much less its been almost a week and no word if its feeding or what.

Dan