Question about assisted feeding

I have a few non-feeding hatchlings. I have tried some of the ususal tricks, and will try a few more before considering force feeding. It has only been 2-3 weeks and I will wait as long as I can however I do have a couple that are looking pretty feeble. My question is about what to force feed them. I have read about feeding tails or small pinky heads, but has anyone tried feeding a homegenate of pinkies? Using a tissue homogenizer to gring up a pinky with some water into a semi-liquid paste, then using a 1ml syringe to tupe feed the snake. Would this work? It seems like it would be easier for the handler and less stressfull for the snake than trying to force down a solid food object. Your advice and opinions will be appreciated. I am only thinking of assisted feeding as a last resort.

What you are describing sounds incredibly like the pinky pump that is used for non feeding hatchlings. I would caution you against waiting too long to assist feed your babies. Sometimes if they are too far gone, the stress of being force-fed will kill them. Remember to lubricate the tip of the feeding tube with something to avoid damage to the snake, also.

Have you tried the brown paper bag trick yet? Are they all being kept separately from each other? sometimes the stress of being housed together is too much.

Another option that you can try is to set up a mini-brumation. Sometimes after they have been cooled down for a few weeks, they can be induced to feed after they have been warmed back up. But it might be too late for these guys, if they are too weak when brumated, they will not make it either.

I Haven't heard of that one, what is it. What has worked best for me is scenting with a green anole. I froze the lizard then cut it open and smear a clean defrosted pink in the inside. However anoles are not to be caught around here and they are about 7$ at the stores.

Brown paper bag trick: take a small brown paper lunch bag. Put the pinky and the snake inside. Close the top and secure it with tape or a staple. BE CAREFUL NOT TO STAPLE ANY PART OF THE SNAKE'S BODY IN IT! Place the entire bag back into the cage, but NOT on top of the heat pad! Preferably put it onto the cool side. Leave the bag undisturbed overnight. Hopefully the snake will eat the pinky, either because he finds it or from sheer boredom.

One advantage of using a frozen anole is that you can use it over and over and over. Just keep it frozen in between.

sue

Last year I had two hatchlings that turned out to be non-feeders. I tried everything I could think of that was recommended and then some.

1. Paper bag
2. Smaller feeding container
3. Leaving overnight
4. Braining the pink
5. Splitting the pink
6. descenting the pink
7. f/t, live, and pre-killed
8. T-rex Lizard Maker (huge disappointment)
9. Frozen anole and live anole scent from body
10. Frozen and pre-killed anole blood
11. Frozen, pre-killed, and live anole saliva
12. And if all else fails an anole (live or dead)

I found what got mine to eat 9 times out of 10 was anole saliva. It didn't matter if it was from frozen or live anoles. Frozen is convenient, as you just take it out of the freezer let it thaw (which is pretty quick) open the mouth and stuff the pink's head in and rotate it to thoroughly cover it and offer. To reuse, just close the mouth back to avoid drying out and pop it back in the freezer. To avoid thawing and refreezing the anole body a zillion times, I just cut the head off and put it in a separate bag.

Live anoles work for this too I found out. Have a single large anole, and each time you need it, grab it out and hold it down and take the pink and touch the anole's head with it. It should bite the heck out of the pink's head and do the trick. Just make sure you watch your fingers, anoles don't usually hurt when they bite, but sometimes they don't want to let go. =P

Hope this helps.

This year, I don't think I'm going to be so adament about getting the non-feeders to eat. If someone wants to take a stab at em, I'll let them have them. But for me, if it's not going to eat I don't want to perpetuate that issue if it indeed it may be genetic. Cruel? Maybe, but if they won't eat it's their own fault.

What seems to be working for me also is a frozen anole. I havent been using saliva though. I bath the pinkie beforehand in soap and water and dry it off really good. Then I cut mine open and squeeze a few drops from the cut and rub them in all over the pinkie. You can do this over and over just keep putting the anole parts back in the freezer.