ForkedTung
11-11-2009, 01:00 PM
Force feeding a cornsnake hatchling a mouse tail:
I've had to do this a few times and this is the technique I've developed, I would never sell a difficult feeder without disclosing that this was necessary.
1) First I cut a mouse tail off at the base and( F/T of course lol) as close to the body as possible, I look for the fattest tails, I then cut the tip off as well so it's about 3" long.
2) Start with the fat end first ( do it this way esp. because the hairs grow away from the base and are pointing in the right direction so as not to counter the feeding.) and make sure it's wet ( dip it in water) to help lubricate it.
3) Grasp the snake firmly ( just to hold it still) around the base of the neck and back of the head.
4) With the tail held in line with the snakes head, put the tail base just under the front 1/3 of the snakes jaw and to the side, apply slight pressure, now holding the tail (only an inch back from the base end) gently spin the tail between your fingers down, towards the lower jaw ( this helps to "roll" the tail in)while lightly pushing the upper jaw up ( this should open the jaw, it may take a few times to get it right)
5) When the mouth opens, push the end of the tail towards the back of the mouth ( I continue to slowly spin the tail while pushing forward ( remember to slightly loosen your grasp on the snakes neck to allow passage of the tail).
6) Continue pushing and gently rotating the tail ( this keeps the tail stiff so it doesn't bend and allows you to use less force) until you can no longer hold it and the last 1/2 inch of the tail tip ( cut off) is sticking out of the snakes mouth.
7) At this point I have a pair of small plastic tongs ready, that I use to push the last bit of tail towards the back of the mouth ( avoiding touching any part of the mouth with the tongs). When I didn't do this I could see that sometimes the snake would attempt to regurge, but never did after the tail was fully in and the mouth could mostly close.
8) Gently put the snake back into it's tub, turn the lights off and leave it alone for at least an hour. ps) before checking to make sure it didn't regurge ( I've never had them do this, but I've only done this for a few snakes) *** make sure fresh water is readily available.
*** I use only my thumb and forefinger for both holding the snake and the tail.
I've never had to FF a pinkie head or pinkie, I find that usually after being FF tails, the hatchlings get a "taste" of what they've been missing and take pinkies shortly thereafter.Again I've only done this for a few snakes.
I've had to do this a few times and this is the technique I've developed, I would never sell a difficult feeder without disclosing that this was necessary.
1) First I cut a mouse tail off at the base and( F/T of course lol) as close to the body as possible, I look for the fattest tails, I then cut the tip off as well so it's about 3" long.
2) Start with the fat end first ( do it this way esp. because the hairs grow away from the base and are pointing in the right direction so as not to counter the feeding.) and make sure it's wet ( dip it in water) to help lubricate it.
3) Grasp the snake firmly ( just to hold it still) around the base of the neck and back of the head.
4) With the tail held in line with the snakes head, put the tail base just under the front 1/3 of the snakes jaw and to the side, apply slight pressure, now holding the tail (only an inch back from the base end) gently spin the tail between your fingers down, towards the lower jaw ( this helps to "roll" the tail in)while lightly pushing the upper jaw up ( this should open the jaw, it may take a few times to get it right)
5) When the mouth opens, push the end of the tail towards the back of the mouth ( I continue to slowly spin the tail while pushing forward ( remember to slightly loosen your grasp on the snakes neck to allow passage of the tail).
6) Continue pushing and gently rotating the tail ( this keeps the tail stiff so it doesn't bend and allows you to use less force) until you can no longer hold it and the last 1/2 inch of the tail tip ( cut off) is sticking out of the snakes mouth.
7) At this point I have a pair of small plastic tongs ready, that I use to push the last bit of tail towards the back of the mouth ( avoiding touching any part of the mouth with the tongs). When I didn't do this I could see that sometimes the snake would attempt to regurge, but never did after the tail was fully in and the mouth could mostly close.
8) Gently put the snake back into it's tub, turn the lights off and leave it alone for at least an hour. ps) before checking to make sure it didn't regurge ( I've never had them do this, but I've only done this for a few snakes) *** make sure fresh water is readily available.
*** I use only my thumb and forefinger for both holding the snake and the tail.
I've never had to FF a pinkie head or pinkie, I find that usually after being FF tails, the hatchlings get a "taste" of what they've been missing and take pinkies shortly thereafter.Again I've only done this for a few snakes.