my hatchlings will not eat

[cdp13075]

Does anyone know how long a hatchling can go without eating before they die? Four of mine will not eat and the others have eaten twice now. I didn't have feeding probelms with my adults when the were little but they were also older than these. I've never had hatchlings until now. I was just wondering how long before I worry.

[bmm]

You should type out the conditions the hatchlings are living in, as well as all methods tried already. With more details, you will get better help :)

Temps, enclosures, age, traffic around the cages...and are they kept alone or together...also how often are you making the feeding attempts.

bmm

[cdp13075]

They are 17 days old. Kept in a 10 gal tank together until I try to feed them. Temp is 80. There's no traffic around the tank. The ones that have eaten, have ate twice, a week apart. I was told to try the others every 3 days.
I tried live pinkies, thawed, and split brain pinkies. I was also told to get an Anole to scent the pinkies with or freeze it, cut pieces off and put it in the pinkies mouth. That doesn't work either. Some one had told me they chop the Anole in a blender and dip the pinkie in it. Nothing is working yet. The non-eaters still look great and I think I'm going to try in a week to feed them again.

This is a pain and I won't be having hatchlings again. All of my snake were suppose to be males until I came home and found eggs. I just want to get the guys fed and not loose all of them in the process.

[Iris]

At 17 days I wouldn't be worrying too seriously yet. Just keep trying. They can most definitely live over a month or two as long as they have water.
I've been trying with thawed pinkie heads (it's pretty easy to snap them off while they're frozen) and so far I have a 50% success rate with mine.
Have you tried leaving a pinkie and a hatchling in a box overnight? That's how I've been doing it (I used a shoebox). Just make sure the lid is secure so the hatchling can't get out.

[cdp13075]

yeah, I've tried the over night thing and it didn't work. I'll try popping the pinkie's head off and see if that works. I'm glad to hear they can live over a month or two as long as they have water. That makes me feel better, I have more time to try and get them to eat.

Another ?
When my adults were babies, I was told not to handle them for a while after they ate or they might regurgitate.
Can the hatchlings be handled now or is it best to leave them alone? Right now I only touch them to seperate them to gladware boxes. They are little freaks and thrash around like crazy. It seems like handling them would calm them down. But then again, it seems stressful too.

I wish I would have known sooner that one of the snakes was a female. I could have studied this a little more. I was shocked to see her laying eggs and very shocked when they hatched.
This website has been alot of help

[Dwight Good]

Any luck with the non feeders?

My advice would be to separate them all into their own cages and see if that helps. Once they have settled into their new cages/setups try feeding them again.

[cdp13075]

nope, 4 still haven't eaten at all and 3 haven't eaten the past 2 times. There are 2 that eat right away every time.
I have them in separate cages but they still won't eat. They won't even get near the pinkie. I'll keep trying and hope they eat.

[Scorpionking]

Did you try Tease-feeding the little guys.

[cdp13075]

yeah, I've tried that and only one will strike and bite it but won't eat it. The others just try to get away. Someone told me to just feed the pinkie's head. That didn't work either.
Is this usually this hard?????

[Scorpionking]

Sometimes it is very hard but do not stop trying. Someone post something weeks ago, that after he sell the snakes as bad eaters, the guy who bought told him that they were doing great, eating normal...