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Here is how I force feed.. **PICS**

Marcel Poots said:
I do not literrally starve them to death. At the point where they actually start loosing weight I feed them to kingsnakes or hognoses or give them to people who care to give it a shot at saving them. I just don't want to hang on to them. But up untill that point I have tried every trick in the book trying to get them to eat. When they really are not interrested in food is it fair to keep them months alive by force feeding? Some of them (most actually) die anyways. Even when you force feed them. It is very stressfull on them. So is that fair? Keeping them alive?
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I really really really hate making posts here, I only register to see pictures and learn more about corn snakes. Im just glad you dont starve them to death. My point was about starving them to death, even if they dont feed they shouldnt be subjected to the pain of starvation. Lets hope this is my last post for a while.
 
for a non eating 9 year old hatchling it looks really healthy i usually try the pinky leg but ill definitely try the full tail if i have probs.
 
Hmm, I never realized lack of feeding instinct could be an inherited trait. But I guess if you think about it, we breed out nasty tempers, so why not breed in great feeders. Makes sense to me.
 
Revitalizing Old Thread...

Last night we force fed 3 of our babies after trying EVERYTHING we could possibly find on this website. All three took the hind leg (as recommended here) and kept it down all night (yay!) But, we still have SOOOO many questions about this as we don't want to mess up.

In the beginning of this post, the originator stated that he once force fed 2 times in a seven day period but also states that he intended to repeat the current force feed in 14 days. With that repeated:

1. Do we try a pinkie after the force feed to see if the feeding response has been re-established?
2. If the answer to number 1 was "yes," how many days do we wait to try the pinkie
3. If the answer to #1 was "no" what is the recommended wait period between force feeds?

Also, we fed our snakes a rat pup legs (only thing we had that was that size)
4. Do rats and mice taste differently? I, myself have never tried either one... perhaps it is time for a blind taste test with the "corny kids" :crazy02:
5. If the answer to number 4 was "yes" will it affect the way the snakes respond to the mouse pinkies?

I thank you for your help, time and consideration in this matter.

Kathy aka "corny kids mom"

I just realized this was in the "photo" section and not "feeding" Apologies for that. I will try to rectify this
 
1. Do we try a pinkie after the force feed to see if the feeding response has been re-established?
2. If the answer to number 1 was "yes," how many days do we wait to try the pinkie
3. If the answer to #1 was "no" what is the recommended wait period between force feeds?

Also, we fed our snakes a rat pup legs (only thing we had that was that size)
4. Do rats and mice taste differently? I, myself have never tried either one... perhaps it is time for a blind taste test with the "corny kids"
5. If the answer to number 4 was "yes" will it affect the way the snakes respond to the mouse pinkies?

I thank you for your help, time and consideration in this matter.

Kathy aka "corny kids mom"

1: Yes. You should try feed normal to see if feeding responce is triggered.
2: 4 days or so. If you wait longer the responce might be gone and fear of the food items could be there again.
3: Between force feeds I would take longer since it is quite stressfull. Let's say 14 days.
4: bad eaters might be triggered by rat smell but I doubt it. I have tried it many times without luck. African dwarf mice however almost always will work. Just as Gerbil and hamster pups.
5: Yes, it takes some effort with scenting to get them back on mouse menu. No problem mostly. It just takes some time.
 
It's pretty safe to say that we all love animals. Most non-eaters have other things wrong with them. If every non-eating weak snake was 'saved' in the wilderness we would have a pretty sorry wild population of corns. Intead we have strong. Same goes with our captives.


Jicin said:
Then at least kill it. Don't let him suffer for weeks.

Or perhaps the snake doesn't eat because it has some wilder genes in it and doesn't do well in captivety. Or perhaps a little encouragement would help. Like the mouse tail force feed. Might be a great snake for the rest of his live. Why give up that fast?
And if you 'don't want to keep those in the bloodline' why do you do it with your Pewters? Because there worth more? Sell better? And the common ones can just starve? I'm sorry, i'm really not looking for a fight here, but i do feel great pity for the poor snakes that die a slow death because they happened to be non-Pewters. Is it proved it even passes onto the next generation?

I'd say your responsible for your animal. Either do everything for it and sell it as a pet, or be humane and end it.

I don't really know what that 'force feeding compaign' comment came from. You know, in the wild non-eaters would become weak and killed off by predators. Or perhaps they recieve so much stimulance they simply would eat in the wild. Perhaps non-eaters don't excist in the wild i don't know. All i know these snakes didn't ask to be born a pet do it's not their fault. We humans choose to do so. And that simply gives us a responsibility.
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This is a touchy topic with me. I will never again force-feed a hatchling. Sometimes it works,but I can't handle forcing something into the mouth of the struggling snake. It makes me sick to do so. If they show no interest in pinks then I tri anoles. If they again show no interest, I cull them off. I'll try pinks for the first three meals, and then anole parts the next three. After six weeks of refusing food, I cull them off because they are so dangerously close to the first stages of soft body syndrome. I don't want to deal with that. I was able to save three stubborn feeders from my '04 clutch. They're all happy and healthy and in great homes now.
 
E. g. guttata said:
This is a touchy topic with me. I will never again force-feed a hatchling.
I might agree on "true" hatchlings that just don't and never had eaten, but these were bought from a breeder as established eaters. So I guess our dilemma came in the fact that these were eating fine before we got them and something (us :shrugs: ) just shut them "off" and we are just trying to get them started again.

Thank you Marcel Poots for a great thread and for all of the info!
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