What do I do next?

I am in need of some experienced advice here! I'll start from the beginning.

I recieved my new hatchling Mira on July 19 (3 weeks ago.) Two days later she escaped from my $500.00 viv that I was sure was escape proof.

Well, I set up all the traps suggested on this forum (i.e. flour on the floor, toothpics, 2 L bottles loaded with pinkies and finally PACKING TAPE. ) Well you could probably guess how I caught her. Even though I found her, she was stuck from nose to tail on the tape. I poured olive oil over her body and SLOWLY peeled it away. Anyway, she came off the tape with only minor scale injuries. I decided to give her plenty of time before offering food.

I offered a f/t on July 25--NOTHING
Waited 5 days and offered another, this time brained--NOTHING
So yesterday I drove 45 minutes to get a live pink. I placed her and the mouse in a glad tupperware container around 6:30 and left her there overnight. She still didn't eat it!! (I think she's going into blue early due to her scale injury!!) This morning I decided to coat the poor live pinkie with tuna juice (read that somewhere on here) and offer it to Mira. Still not interested.

1. What is my next step in getting her to feed?
2. What should I do with this poor live pinkie who is slowly starving to death?

Any suggestions???

If she is going blue then she may not want to feed, this is common. 3 weeks is definitely survivable for hatchlings to go without food if they wont eat. I would suggest to wait until after she sheds to try another offering.
As for the pinky, I'd say it isn't going to make it. If you don't have a CO2 tank to kill mice you may have to freeze it. In that situation I believe 5 minutes in a freezer is better than starving for 3 days.
Good luck, and relax. The scale injury could certainly bring about a shed.

Hi and welcome to the forums. Sounds like you are off to a good start...lol, sorry, couldn't resist, anyway, we are all here to help you, as others will too after me. Put the pinky in the freezer and save it for later, better than letting it starve and suffer. I'd say wait another week before trying to her feed again and just keep a close eye on your little one. If she is going into shed because of the tape injuries then she may not want to eat, or she just might still be stressed out from all the excitement what with escaping and getting stuck to the tape and dealing with a new home. I don't know about the tuna, that's just plain interesting. Good luck with her.

I will put the starving pinkie in the freezer. I guess I will try again in a week. I have read about the scenting stuff made by T-REX. I think it's called Lizard maker. Does this stuff work? If so, where do I find it online. I have already checked 4 pet stores and none carry it.

I'd say try your frozen-thawed (+/- braining) again once she has shed. Moving to a new home, escaping, and being stuck to packing tape is extremely stressful and that alone may cause her not to eat for a few weeks. Give her some time to relax, let her shed, then try her a day or so later. Pinky in the cup, nice and quiet and dark overnight, and see what she does.

I have tried lizard maker and mouse maker and to be honest have never had a hatchling go for it...not even one that normally eats. Mine have seemed repulsed by it.

You can try offering a pinky head and the body, chicken broth-dipped pinky or raw chicken bits, live again, etc. To be honest, I've had the best luck scenting with anole saliva. We've got some frozen anoles that are useful for thawing out, opening their mouths, and making them bite the pinky's head. I seem to get the most enthusiastic response from anole saliva (vs. just rubbing the lizard on the pink).

Oh, you can buy anoles frozen? I'll try that next. Where do you get yours from? I never heard the anole saliva method. Sound like it just might work!!

I've also used lizard maker with a few problem hatchlings over the years and had no success. All of the hatchlings I've had that wouldn't eat at first have either changed their mind within a few weeks and started eating, or would flat out refuse EVERYTHING. I've been blessed though... I think I can count the # of hatchlings I've had problems feeding on 2 hands within about 6 or 7 years of breeding.

I have never had to buy anoles, but finally had to the other day too Hurley. I have geckos like crazy out here, so normally if things get extreme, I just catch one of those and it usually works. Scalesnthings gave me a striped snow female that has never touched a pink, and they'd been trying for 5 months. They said they were just sick of watching the little girl fade after exhausting their efforts and said "If you can get her to eat, take her! We're done!" Tried just pinks (f/t and live), tried the gecko, tried lizard maker. Nothing. I finally went out and bought 2 anoles. I was just going to freeze one and keep the other alive for future scentings. I grabbed the one I had planned for the freezer and rubbed the pink all over the vent and body. Nothing. Tried doing it again, and it bit the pink head. I was kind of mad that he wouldn't let go at first and then thought "Wait a minute... this could actually work..." so I shoved the pink head in its mouth, "swished" it around a little bit, and SUCCESS! Needless to say, I didn't freeze the one, and have 2 pet brown anoles now (Joe told me they were "cuban" ?). Eh, whats 2 more right? Least I could do was offer them a nice home and a life for helping me out. I'll definitly put in a vote for anole salive. Maybe they should bottle that instead? lol

So back to the topic at hand, I agree with everyone that giving her a little time to destress will help. If she is getting ready to shed, she should hopefully have her appetite back shortly thereafter.

I guess I'll head out for a anole. Maybe I can keep it as a pet and make it bite pink heads before snake feedings. Do they have any special husbandry requirements? Or will food and water suffice? If my snake refuses the anole scented pink, the anole may just become snake food itself! Thanks for all the helpful advice.

Nah, they're pretty easy. All they really need is pinhead crickets for food. They are arboreal, so make sure there's something for them to climb on. Keep them at about 85, and the humidity a little high. They are dew drinkers, meaning they really don't recognize standing water as a drinking source. Just spray the cage down like twice a day enough so that water collects and they should be fine.

Good luck with the little one!

SHE FINALLY ATE!!

I took your advice and went today to buy 2 anoles and a live pinkie. My initial goal was to have the anole bite the pinkie's head to initiate feed and if that failed, the anole would become snake food.

Well, First I put the pinkie in with her with NO anole saliva. After 20 min, that was unsuccessful. Then, I shoved the pinkie into the anole's mouth and squeezed gently on the cheeks of the anole. Mira went nuts. She flickered her tongue like crazy as she inspected the live pink. For the first time (and only time in 3 1/2 weeks), she unlatched her jaw and ate the pink BUTT FIRST. It took her quite a long time to get the legs down but she DID IT!!!!

Thanks so much. I had tried everything: F/T, Live, Braining, Halved-Pinks, even TUNA Juice. The answer to all problem feeders is ANOLES!!

Is there anyone out there that has had a FAILED anole-scented attempt?
Just Curious!!