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Another question about feeding hatchlings!

Jessica71

Jessica71

New member
OK, I know this has come up before and I even gave advice out of Kathy Love's book on it myself yesterday - but isn't it different when it's your own baby! So please bear with me...

My first baby who hatched on July 29th shed yesterday, so I decided to feed him/her. I left a small frozen defrosted, warmed pinky in its little box overnight - I didn't take the paper towel, little cardboard hide or water bowl out. This morning it was still there so I removed it.

Well I guess this is not the first time this has happened to someone and I was expecting problems really! I thought of leaving it for another two or three days so it gets a bit hungrier, and then maybe putting it in a small container with just the pinky, nothing else, and perhaps braining the pinky. (I'm not going to feed a live pinky; in the UK this is usually not done).

What I'm really wondering is I've noticed a couple of people saying recently that their hatchlings ate first time, 100% success rate, and I'm just wondering how they went about this and what tips they might have? Colin, I think you were one of them. I think with the next one I'll wait a day or two after shedding, but is it ok to leave the mouse in the cage? Any suggestions? The temps are fine - the babies' boxes are in a viv with a temp of 85ish at the warm end and 78ish at the cool end.

Any suggestions gratefully accepted!

Thanks,

Jessica :)
 
Oh, in case it wasn't clear I've thrown the pinky out - I meant I'll offer a DIFFERENT one - I'm not that cruel!!
 
Your snake is still really young and is probably quite happy to live off it's yolk reserve, so don't panic yet!

Go a week between offerings if you're patient enough. 'Most' hatchlings will eventually eat. I had one hold out for 6 weeks and I have another who has not eaten since her first meal 6 weeks ago....'them's the breaks in this business!'
 
Thank you Princess - that's reassuring! I'll do that - it will be nice to have a week off worrying about it!
 
I was 100% with my feeds this year ..... but I think I just had a lucky year!

I don't do much different to what you did. Small tub, paper towel in the bottom. Everything else out of the tub initially. Give them the pinkies (f/t at room temp), cover with a towel and leave for an hour. After an hour, remove any uneaten pinkies and warm them, back in the tub and back on with the towel and give it another half an hour. After that, back in with a scruched paper towel (hide) and the water bowl, leave the pinkie in and leave overnight.

I do all this in a room with zero noise and traffic and leave the room while they're eating.

That got me 100% this year but I've had non-feeders before using the same methods so it's no guarantee.

As princess says, nothing to panic about just yet. Give it a few days and then give it another try.

Good luck with them. :)
 
Thank you Colin - I'll try that. The reheating sounds good - I always think after a while the cold pinky must be a bit nasty! I'll try without the cage furniture in next time as at first the baby was just under his hide - for all I know he might have discovered the pinky in the middle of the night when it was less appetizing for a little snake...

Thanks again,

Jessica :)
 
If I do end up overnighting them, I make sure the pinkie is under the scrunched paper towel (hide) as thats where it's most likely to be found.

I think I had to do a total of 7 or 8 overnights this year (all first feeds, once they'd taken one no overnighting was required) out of 42 hatchlings.

:)
 
Wow, you did well! I agree though, the overnight method has only varying success. I have a young trinket snake that I bought in May, and she was a pretty poor feeder at first. Sometimes she would eat, sometimes she wouldn't; but I quickly learned that she didn't like pinkies that were left overnight - either she ate them pretty quickly, or she didn't eat them at all. Now if we wiggle them around she grabs them, so we always feed her that way. She's not really interested otherwise. Funny the way they're all different - our other two trinket snakes are not like that!

How long after their first shed did you try to feed them?
 
Anything from a day to four days.

I prefer to feed a whole clutch together. It's easier to do and easier to track. So, normally I'll wait until the whole clutch has shed and once the last one sheds I'll offer food the next day.

The only exception being my second keeper who managed to hatch 3 or 4 days later and then hold onto his first skin for a full 7 days and so get behind on the feeding as I wanted the rest of the clutch to have had the regulation three feeds before I took them to the pet shop which was buying them.

He obviously had a plan to get a bit behind on his feeds .... it worked .... I've still got him now .... :rolleyes:
 
Thanks a lot for your help. I'll definitely leave this one a good few days, probably a week, and wait for some more to shed, then try your method. Your little one obviously wanted to stay with you! :)
 
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