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Health Issues/Feeding Problems Anything related to general or specific health problems. Issues having to do with feeding problems or tips.

the saga continues........
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Old 02-07-2006, 07:01 AM   #1
diamondlil
Unhappy the saga continues........

After getting my Deckert;s ratsnake and anery, all was going well, feeding well, shed, in small plastic tub setups on papertowel substrate. So well that I got my problem baby, Diamond Lil at the end of November from the same source. Was told she had been feeding well and was shown a non-feeder that was being kept back. She looked healthy and weighed 12 grams.
She regurgitated her first 3 pinkies with me, so e-mailed Kathy after getting bad advice from another forum (had been told to wait not more than 4 days before feeding) followed Kathy's advice and used grapefruit seed extract and Lil fed twice successfully.(THANKYOU KATHY!) Then Lil went on hungerstrike, refusing to eat from the 22nd Dec.
Took her back to the shop on 11th Jan, and she ate that night at the shop, again the next week, so waited another week and brought her home on 25th Jan.(shop owner breeds as well as imports and is being very helpful)
She has not eaten at all, am near to despair for her. Temperature is perfect (digital in-out thermometer) She has papertowel substrate, papertowel-roll hides, she drinks and is still alert and active, but totally ignores the f/t pinkies offered. She weighs 10g (at lowest point went down to 8) and am totally stumped on how to help her.
Ratsnake and hypo are yearlings, both feeding well, anery @ 8 months, feeding well, reverse okeetee and carolina are babies, feeding well. Have no access to lizards except my son's leopard gecko so no lizard scenting possible, tried the tuna water, no interest, tried braining, no interest, after reading post on here tried chicken skin scenting, no interest.
Please help us, am aware Lil may have problems I can't overcome and it may get to the point where i have to consider euthanasia, but at the moment am just about ready to try anything while she is maintaining condition and weight I can't give up on her.
 
Old 02-07-2006, 07:58 AM   #2
Z3us
Trying euthenasia sounds as if you have given up.

The fact that she has eaten mice before proves that she associates them with food. So no worry there.

It has been only thirteen days and your snake will probably survive for much longer. Put her into a small container with the live pinky and leave her there overnight. Put the container over the heating pad as well.
 
Old 02-07-2006, 09:01 AM   #3
Roy Munson
Have you tried a tiny live pink? I'd put her in the smallest container that will hold her and the pink, with a little hide in it too. At sunset, leave her and a live pinky in a dark, no-traffic area until morning. No peeking. If that doesn't work, wait a couple of days and do the same thing with a live pinky washed with soap and completely rinsed. Good luck.
 
Old 02-07-2006, 09:38 AM   #4
kimbyra
I she getting ready to shed? My little baby had a poor shed, then refused every attampt at feeding him for almost three weeks. I tried all the recomended tricks. He shed again, then ate a couple days later - no problem. I hope you work it out with your little one. Have you seen how the previous owner fed the snake to get it to eat? I was just wondering since when you took it back she did eat.
 
Old 02-07-2006, 09:52 AM   #5
bitsy
I have 2 hatchlings still alive that haven't eaten voluntarily since they hatched back in August. That's coming up to 6 months. You're a looooong way off considering euthanasia.

Find a supplement that you can put in her water to give her a boost while you keep trying - I use Critical Care Formula.
 
Old 02-07-2006, 01:07 PM   #6
diamondlil
Thankyou for your support, what i meant about euthanasia is that if I cannot help her I will not want her to suffer. In the meantime, she did feed voluntarily for me prior to and after her regurgitation problems, and only difference at the shop was size of container, so she is now in lunch box same size as she was in there, to see if this will help. She has always eaten f/t pinkies (when she eats), not sure about availability of live pinks but will try to find some.
Bitsy, thanks for that message, it helps to know there is still hope for Lil, but if yours never fed voluntarily, did you use pinkie-pump or similar?
Kibyra, cannot tell is she is going into shed because she is a snow, I got fooled before on her last shed.
The owner says he just dropped in a f/t pinkie, same as worked for me before. any ideas on how often to offer food? am trying every 3-4 days at the moment. Thanks for your help.
 
Old 02-08-2006, 11:19 AM   #7
bitsy
I've occasionally force-fed with small sections of mouse tail dunked in CCF. I dislike force-feeding as I've never had any luck getting hatchlings to eat voluntarily afterwards. I've never used a pinkie pump - mouse tail is quite thin and I've found it less traumatic than whole pinkies. It's not as nutritional though.

After force-feeding neither of mine put on weight, which makes me think they probably have some sort of internal problems that I won't be able to overcome. In the past when I've just been dealing with "reluctant" hatchlings, most will put on a growth spurt, even after only a couple of sections of mouse tail.

I must stress that force-feeding is only ever my last resort after all the other tricks and tips have failed. As I said, I don't have much faith in the technique for anything other than physical maintenance while hoping that the feeding instinct will kick in.

I put CCF in their water and at the next water change I switch to Nutrobal, which is a probiotic, to keep the gut flora up and aid digestion.

As yours was feeding OK, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before she gets back into the habit. As you say, it could well be a shed cycle. Trying her every 3-4 days sounds right.
 
Old 02-08-2006, 11:52 AM   #8
Taceas
I just have to ask, as your wording is kind of ambiguous on the subject, but are all of the snakes you referenced housed together?
 
Old 02-08-2006, 05:11 PM   #9
diamondlil
oh my word no! they each have seperate tubs on a set of shelves, have made the setup of each identical, except now Lil in smaller tub inside her bigger one to try to replicate the conditions she was kept in at the shop. The shelves are temporary until I build a rack this summer.
The Deckert's has to be on the top shelf so he can see around the room, is the most active and (seemingly) nosy out of the snakes. Am assuming this is because they are more diurnal, so vision more important than to corns, his eyes bigger in proportion too and he often watches if I am moving around in the room.
 
Old 02-08-2006, 08:22 PM   #10
MegF.
Can you get lizard maker?
 
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