A new idea for non-feeders

[debcash]

Last fall I picked up several non-feeders for free to see if I could get them to eat. After many weeks and trying all the different ideas I ended up having to force feed them to keep them alive and put them into brumation in November. I took them out about 3 weeks ago and have tried again to get them to eat with no sucess. Tonight was their last chance and I tried something new - I wrapped the frozen pinkies in raw chicken skin (just peeled it off a peice of chicken from the store) and defrosted them in skin. I warmed them up and put them in with the hatchlings and I really can't believe it - but 3 of the 4 ate. I am so excited!!

With hatchling season approaching I thought others may want to try it with their non-feeders. (And hopefully mine will continue to eat now.)

Deb

 

[zwyatt]

That's a really clever idea! Kinda like a pigs in a blanket sorta thing.

Thanks for sharing :wavey:

 

[Roy Munson]

Cool idea. Glad it worked. Did you just use the skin for scenting, or did the hatchlings eat the chicken skin too? (Sorry if I missed something.)

 

[kathylove]

I have tried the dipping in chicken broth, while not successful for me, others have had success with it. But I haven't tried the actual skin. Can't argue with success. Never know what they want! Maybe scenting with kangaroo??

 

[dionythicus]

I found that dipping f/t pink's heads in tuna water worked like a charm and helped get my difficult feeders going. I will definitely keep chicken broth in mind too.

 

[xavusangel]

thanks for the tips, its good to know when i plan to be a future breeder, you never know when you might get a stubburn one :sidestep:

 

[isobel]

It amazes me what simple ideas get these little devils eating, i spent a fortune on certain ready made potions from my reptile shop at first, but none of them worked. I have found simple things like chick fur work so much better.

As you may have seen from my posts i have got a very very stubborn baby at the moment so I'm going to try the chicken skin. Sounds like a great idea.

Isobel

 

[colinmcc]

Having used chick legs to start problems feeders before, and then moving them onto chick-scented pinks (and eventually onto un-scented pinks), that idea makes perfect (and good) sense to me.

 

[debcash]

Thanks everyone!
Just to clarify - I let the pinkies defrost in the chicken skin, but didn't give the skin to the snakes, just the pinkies.

 

[Hurley]

That's a nice approach to chicken scenting.

I had a few start on pieces of day old chick thighs. One gal that never ate a pink in her life, just stuffed down chicken until she was big enough for rat pinks. I'll keep the chicken skin wrap in mind.

Good going!

 

[gardenmum]

I have used small chunks of chicken breast and found that some non feeders will eagerly eat it. I just make a baggie full of frozen small pieces of chicken - no skin - and feed it out like giving them a pinky. Doesn't work on everyone but I always get a few that go for it.

That's the worst thing about non feeders. Some will eat if you give them chicken (scented), lizard (scented), I even had one that liked toad scented and one that liked fish scented, then there's live, or rat pinks or gerbil pinks, or just heads, brained, slit, in paper bags, in the dark, near the edge of their hide, and on and on and on. There are too many different ways in which to get the problem eaters eating and sometimes it can just drive you nuts trying to find out which way each non eater prefers. Arrgghhh.

Great idea about wrapping the pink in chicken skin. Thanks for sharing.