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feeder not feeding now.. advice.

I pulled up my records on iherp to be sure I give the right info.

7-17-10 Hatched
7-24-10 found first shed and deffication. That night offered plain normally prepared FT pink. Was refused. Had been left over night.
7-28-10 Found a second deffication (figured he was still working on the yolk from the egg) Decided to attempt to feed again due to prior refusal. Offered heated warmer than usual and slit. Refused.
8-01-10 Decided to try again, gave brained extra hot ft pink - ATE!
8-19-10 offered feeder the same as was given when he ate-refused. But I did find a deffication, so both ends work, hmm.
8-29-10 Decided to try making him wait a little, but wrote the wrong date so instead of feeding at day 7, fed at day 10. Found him midshed and had to wait for him to finish. Offered hot, slit AND brained. He ate :)

And has eaten normally prepared (heated and slit) pinks since.

I also have a snake that regurges if fed while in blue so I have to check her over really well before I feed each time.

Hmm, looking at my records I guess he did not go without for as long as I though. Must have just felt that bad. . . Be patient and I would wait at least 7 days let him get good and hungry then slit AND brain. I always put my little ones (under 20 grams) in a 32 oz deli cup covered overnight. Once they hit 20 grams they get fed in shoebox sized tubs and don't need to be covered any more.
 
Just because he eats live once or twice or whatever doesn't mean he's stuck on them. At this point, you need to just find what he likes. I'd try live and maybe a FT pink cut into thirds. REALLY hot.
 
think i should try that now? he has a pinky in his deli on the flexwatt covered now.
reheat it and cut it into 3?
 
It doesn't hurt to try. But don't put him, in his deli, on Flexwatt. He can't be trapped, unable to get away from heat. Room temp is fine.
 
at 30minutes still no interest.... opinions. options... ugh.

im gunna leave it for a few hours and hope for one of the peices to go missing then if nothing. back to the drawing board
 
Nothing has worked today. My dude seems tired and slow so in 15 min i'l put him in his tub with the pinky head and bum and see if it lasts over night.
Im super worried about this dude. When he coils up his skin folds slightly which i've never had with a corn ever except fresh hatchlings. He seems pretty tiny and really should eat. i dont think the F/T is going to work though. Should i attempt force feeding? use a small rod to open his mouth and put in the head? ugh. pardon my ranting/questions but i feel at a loss.

hes def not in a shed either. as a mention his sister is in blue and its clear what a sheddig butter looks like now.

:(
 
SO i talked to Lorie and BHB.
Very nice and helpful! She suggested (as everyone else has) that if he has eaten he will probably eat again! I was told (after last nights attempt) give it atleast 7 days without a feed attempt. then do a live pinky in a deli cup over night. We'll see how it goes next weekend.
I'll keep everyone posted. I just want this boy to get huge so he needs to EAT! haa
 
Mine is similar.

F/T - wouldn't eat
F/T - wouldn't eat.
Tried live - ate.
Live again - ate.
F/T / warmed up - ate.
F/T / warmed up again - won't eat
F/T / warmed up again - won't eat

Not sure what I'm going to try next, maybe braining it or making it really hot.

Hopefully your guy ate!
 
GSDlover said:
Mine is similar.

F/T - wouldn't eat
F/T - wouldn't eat.
Tried live - ate.
Live again - ate.
F/T / warmed up - ate.
F/T / warmed up again - won't eat
F/T / warmed up again - won't eat

Not sure what I'm going to try next, maybe braining it or making it really hot.

Hopefully your guy ate!
Click to expand...

Try thawing the pink in warm water- it just takes a minute. Then run it under REALLY hot water for about 10 seconds, then cut a bunch of slits down its head and back. Feed while still hot- don't even dry it off.
 
5-6:30pm . No interest in live pinky.
I guess he'll be in there all night then! hope the pinky lasts the night.
ugh this is such a nussance! i just want the handsome dude to live!
currently wk 4.
 
From your description of his personality change, it sounds like he's completely and totally confused. Particularly with babies, confused = terrified. He won't eat while he's afraid. What's going on in his world between feeding attempts? You have a couple of options, both of which I've used successfully with nonfeeders. You can leave him completely alone except when offering food; this is the standard advice and works for many. You can also try a few minutes of calm handling on a daily basis so that he learns that he's still safe when interactions happen. I've done this with a nervous baby or two and it succeeded in calming them down enough that they got interested in food instead of trying to seek safety. Pay close attention to him and do what you feel is best for his own particular personality. They're individuals; they don't read the books; we have to be sensitive to figure out what will work sometimes.

As you've been told, he was eating before and thus will likely eat again. Don't give up.
 
Caryl,
thanks for you words. He is very "jumpy" when i touch him. SO generally i try to pick him up for a few minutes daily. since he has stopped being as "strikey" but still jumpy. His sister was a picky eater the first meal but now she jumps on mice all day! Once i open his 5qt tub (which is on flexwatt at 85 degrees and is the dark 95% of the day) he seems terrified as all hell!

In the experience in others. How long should i wait before i consider "force feeding". Which i have no experience with!

thanks for the support
Brandon
 
Not everyone will agree, Brandon, but I think you're right to handle him a bit. Sometimes they need to be less stressed by the whole business before they'll start eating. Fear strikes don't often result in the snake eating.

As for actual force feeding, that's a last resort. Personally, I'll only consider it if the snake is beginning to seem weak. There are a lot of tricks in the bag to try before that one. Have you tried wiggling a really hot f/t mouse to try to trigger a strike? The "zombie mouse dance" is appealing for some. If your hand or tongs are too big, you can try something smaller. I had some success with a mouse-kabob. I put the pinky on a small wooden skewer and wriggled it around. I don't know if being wooden mattered, but my logic was that wood was a scent thsy wouldn't be a distraction for the snake. I put the mouse at floor level, not dangling from above, so that it would be less intimidating. The hardest part was getting the skewer into the mouse in such a way that it would hold for the wriggling but yet be able to be removed when the snake took the prey.

I'm happy your female eats well. We're all pulling for you and your little guy. A lot of us know the feeling all too well!
 
Nanci said:
Try thawing the pink in warm water- it just takes a minute. Then run it under REALLY hot water for about 10 seconds, then cut a bunch of slits down its head and back. Feed while still hot- don't even dry it off.
Click to expand...

Alright thank you.
I will try this tomorrow night, giving him the night off so he wont be stressed at all... Though my guy loves being handled... My boyfriends snake... not so much haha.
 
1

Caryl said:
Not everyone will agree, Brandon, but I think you're right to handle him a bit. Sometimes they need to be less stressed by the whole business before they'll start eating. Fear strikes don't often result in the snake eating.

As for actual force feeding, that's a last resort. Personally, I'll only consider it if the snake is beginning to seem weak. There are a lot of tricks in the bag to try before that one. Have you tried wiggling a really hot f/t mouse to try to trigger a strike? The "zombie mouse dance" is appealing for some. If your hand or tongs are too big, you can try something smaller. I had some success with a mouse-kabob. I put the pinky on a small wooden skewer and wriggled it around. I don't know if being wooden mattered, but my logic was that wood was a scent thsy wouldn't be a distraction for the snake. I put the mouse at floor level, not dangling from above, so that it would be less intimidating. The hardest part was getting the skewer into the mouse in such a way that it would hold for the wriggling but yet be able to be removed when the snake took the prey.

I'm happy your female eats well. We're all pulling for you and your little guy. A lot of us know the feeling all too well!
Click to expand...


Thank you Caryl. I had to go out of town last minute last night, I will be back to check on them in about 2 hours. After that if the pinky is still alive. Im going to leave them again for another night. I've read susan has an aminimal that wont eat until after 48 hours!
Depsite the outcome of these feeding, I'll make sure to handle him regularly.

"fingers crossed"
 
ugh. 14hours of squirming pinky and no interest. There was some pinky poo though.
Im leaving them for another night.
 
With the shorter days many snakes slow down or stop feeding altogether. This is normal as cooler weather approaches. Maybe lowering the temperature for a few weeks or even months will bring their interest in feeding back. Prowling their cage is also a sign that they are looking for a cooler spot to spend the winter.
 
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