First feeding for a scared baby

Hello, I have yet another question.

I'll be having the first feeding with my new baby on Saturday. She's 21g currently so depending on what size pinkies have, I was planning on possibly giving her two.

My question is where to feed her. I want to feed her outside the tank (she does have aspen bedding in her viv), but she is SO terrified of me (I picked her up once for a quick weigh 3 days after I got her). I'm worried picking her up to move her in another container will stress her out big time and she won't want to eat. Am I being irrational? Is it best to get her, wait for her to stop attacking me (little hateling for sure) then put her in the separate container? Or get her in the separate container ASAP?

I'm sure others will chime in that has more experience, but with my 2 juvies I'm feeding them inside their enclosure so I don't have to handle them after they ate.

For their first couple of feedings I went with smaller amounts, 1 3g pinkie instead of 2, they ea weighed in at 27g so well within that guideline.

I put the pinkie (s) on a paper plate and put it inside their tub, after I scooped them out and weighed them. Let em alone for about an hour. They've eaten for me 3 times now and the plate is big enough that they don't move it off of it. Just gulp it down then move off the plate and into whatever hide they decide they want to go in to.

Once they did that I took out the plate and left em alone.

I have always fed mine in a separate container. When I got him at 1.5 months old I had to take the hide away and pick him because he was also terrified.
I do always have some wrapped papers in the separate tank so he can hide a bit when I put him there to eat or to clean the viv. I let him be there alone while I warm the mouse and then feed. He got at it with no problems since start, even if he was a bit of a jumpling when I touched him.
Then just picking him up and puting him back to the faun won't cause a regurge I guess. It's just 2 seconds, you don't jerk it either. Some people leave the container in the viv and let the snake slither out itself.
Then yes, you leave him 2 days or so. I don't bother mine until he comes out on his own 2 days later.

You need to handle your little one! If you don't it will never calm down. I actually pick mine up and play with him at feeding time. Once we've had some quality time and he's calm I put his mouse in the deli container he shipped in. He eats while he's still wrapped around my hand. Once he swallows he always moves into the container to get the food all the way down. Then I just put the container back in his tank, next to the water so he can wash it down.
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Cane said:

You need to handle your little one!
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Cane, I am planning on starting the process of handling her. I was under the impression that since I just got her the number one goal is to get her settled and get her established feeding.

I might go a little against the grain around here but the day I got my guy I started handling him. I opened the deli container and the first thing he did was bite me! I let him use up a little energy and slither through my fingers until he calmed down and actually started to look around. Once he was calm, 15 or 20 minutes later, I put him in his new viv. Handled him pretty much every day since. He started, after about a week, to actually come out of his hide when I came in to take him out.

I kind of went against what I read here but I didn't see any signs of stress. Did I do the right thing? Some will say no but even if it was the wrong way I can't see the need for more than a day or to to get over their voyage to their new home. My little one seems pretty well adjusted to me.

My little girl seems to be doing ok. Every night since I got her she cruises around her viv. When I took her out to weigh her she completely freaked out. She probably bit me at least 4 times before I got a handle on her. I'm sure she was super stressed. It became a huge ordeal because I couldn't get over the initial reaction of pulling away after every bite, so I'm sure in her mind it was the battle of the century. I read somewhere to look away while scooping her up so that way you don't see the strikes and don't pull away. I think I'll try that next time. Although, I am still on the fence if I want to remove her for the first feeding or not..

I am a new snake owner too. When we first got our little guy, Nightmare, I wanted to feed him in the viv the first few times as he was also very scared. I put his pinkie on a small plastic lid, and I can't remember if it was the first or second feeding, but I found one of the pinkies hidden behind a rock later, and wasn't sure if he just dragged it there and left it, or regurged it. Once I started feeding him outside of the viv, feedings got a lot easier. One thing that helped me, is that I have a hammock that Nightmare loves to lay in, so if he is in there, I can just dump him gently into my hand. He seems to prefer that over being grabbed. We've had him for a while now, and he still hates being taken out, although once he is out he is fine. Maybe your baby just hates being taken out too? Someone recommended to me that I put my hand in the viv without grabbing him so he gets used to seeing me there and doesn't freak out. I still do that sometimes, and I do think it helps. I hope all goes well with you and the new baby. Good luck.

I would have the pinky ready in the container, then move her to it. I usually weigh at the same time.

Thanks everyone, I think I am going to take her out and feed her in a separate bin. Going on a ten year hiatus of owning snakes and getting a baby for the first time, I've realized I still have a lot to learn. I'm so glad this forum is still active! Now here's to hoping to she eats, the vendor said she's a voracious eater so hopefully she will be with me too!

if she doesn't eat for you, leave the pinky in the viv overnight on a deli lid. she may eat that way. My girl took several feedings like that before she began to feed outside.

Just wanted to update, I followed Nanci's advice and when I came back to check on her after an hour both little pinkies were gone and she had a full belly : ) Assuming she digests ok and no regurg we will be out of the woods!

I don't have any snake lovers here so it's nice to be able to share these little victories with people who understand : ) Hoping things all continue to go well so I can start handling my baby soon and maybe get some good pictures to share with you all!!

Glad she ate for you!

Congratulations on the meal <3 i know the feeling..