Most spotted pythons will start out on pinkies in captivity. Most are great feeders. I do not sell non-feeders or ones that have been forced feed untill they are truly eating on their own, for some time. Some have gone one or two years before they are ready to sell. I rarely breed poor eaters unless they carry some other factor that I must have. Not all breeders go the extra step. A well known breeder, sold me a non-feeder that never did eat on its own and died its first year. When confronted at a show, when I was purchasing additional stock from him, he said "That's just the luck of the draw." I have not bought from him again, even though he has some great looking stuff.



Unfortunately most small rodent eating snakes, do not start out with rodents in the wild. Spotted pythons most times start out with small geckos in the wild. Think of such a small snake going into a rodent nest to get a pinky only to find mama guarding the nest!



Nature has programmed these small snakes with the taste for lizards or other prey for their first few meals. For some reason a well washed pinky that has been brained, smells a lot like a lizard to a snake.



To force-feed I use a few methods. First I use the smallest pinky and use the head to pry the well held snakes mouth open and work the rodent down. Sometimes the snake will finsh the job other times they will just spit it out. After a few times I put the snake back untill the next day, if it has not eaten.



Next I cut the head off a thin insulin syringe, these are a smaller diameter than a pencil and pack it with a mashed up pinky. Then replace the plunger and use the cut end to pry the lips of the snake open [wach the little teeth, do not break any!]and just barely work the open end of the syringe past the throat opening and gently plunge the food down. Most of the times the snake will not up-chuck. Some do and do not adjust to this method.



For the hard to force-feed I again use an insulin syringe only this thime I only cut the plastic shaft the holds the needle off, not the whole end like above. I then fill it with turky baby food, right out of the jar. And then use the method above.



Before I force feed again I wave a pinky around, if its a no-feed I brain the pinky and try again. If again its a no-feed I repeat one of the force-feed methods.



You may try worms, insects or live pinkies. I have not had much luck with lizard sented pinkies. Most spotted babies want geckos. I have had some that will not eat any thing dead or alive, geckos included. Some starve to death even after force feeding. Then some force-feed snakes just start eating on their own. When they do start feeding on their own most becon the best eaters.



Do not water the snakes the day of the feed, water the next day!



The longest I have had to force-feed was 14 months. Most never need force feeding. This year I had a whole clutch of six non-feeders from parents who two years ago produced eight babies, four of which were non-feeders. After a year of force feeding two became eaters, so I had six of the eight. During the next year the other two died. The four that remained are doing fine and I will be selling two of them. All of this years clutch has died. Next year I am going to replace the male, he goes off-feed during breeding season [many times this is normal], but I am going to replace him anyway. I hope he was the bad-feed carrier?



My others do fine as parents and I have few non-feeders, sometimes, I feel that it is natures way of dealing with a snake born with bad traits, to starve them off, even when force feed?



I have noticed that males tend to be more prone to be non-feeders.

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