tyflier
[Insert Witty Commentary]
So...several weeks ago, I took a trip out to a friend of mine's house to see his collection, talk about this year's pairings, and make some tentative selections for purchasing this year. After going through some of his more rare morphs(he is the Hondo Master!), and deciding on what I wanted and what was in my price range, he showed me a small male Durango Mt. king that was having some serious issues...
This poor little guy had regurgitated every meal he ever had except 2, and was beginning to rapidly decline in terms of weight and health. He is a gorgeous little Greeri king, but unfortunately, with 100+ breeding pairs lined up and going through pre-ovulation sheds...my buddy simply didn't have time to dedicate to this little guy, and his outlook was very poor...he wasn't going to make it.
So...my buddy offered him to me. If I was willing and had the time to work with him, I could have. Well...Greeris are on my list of "Must Have" snakes, and this little guy is exactly what I would look for in a male, so I figured...Why not? I took the little guy in.
I brought him home, put him in quarantine with temperatures higher than normal...around 87-89*F, instead of my usual 85*F, and let him settle. After 4 days of settling in, I cut the tail off of an adult mouse, dipped it in Nutri-Bac, and forced him to eat it. Wouldn't you know it...4 days later...DEFECATION!! He had successfully digested a very small, but very nutritous meal, and managed to load his gut with probiotics. That's a good sign.
7 days later...I tried again. Cut the tail off of a frozen mouse, dipped it in Nutri-bac, and started to forcefeed him. This time, I wanted him to swallow it himself, so I only forced it in halfway. AND HE ATE IT! 4 days later...defecation. He had digested his second meal, and again, loaded his gut with positive biotic flora. Things are starting to look up for this little guy.
A week goes by...Now Django(I decided to name him afterall...) has been more active...cruising his tub, drinking water...checking things out. It's time for a real test...I took a 1 day old pinky...the smallest one in the litter. I dipped it's rump in water, and than a quick dip in Nutri-Bac. I decided that I was not going to assist in any way, this time. I wanted to see what would happen...
I put Django in a deli cup, placed the Nutri-Bac dipped pinky in with him, pre-killed to avoid motion and rubbing off the Nutri-Bac, placed the deli cup half over a heat source, and covered it with a towel. 3 hours later...SUCCESS!! Django ate the pinky all on his own...but now the real test would begin...
Being in quarantine, Django has been kept on newspaper, so that I can closely monitor his defecations and watch for a regurge. This pinky, as small as it was, looked HUGE in Django's belly. There was a feeding bulge twice the thickness of his body. I was nervous, but I know that these mountain kings are very good survivors, and capable of handling a meal of this size under normal conditions. So I waited and watched.
I would like to say I was patient, but I wasn't. I was too nervous. I checked every 5 hours or so, watching the bulge, looking for regurge...holding my breath. It seemed that he wasn't going to digest, because the bulge just didn't seem to go away...
Until yesterday. No bulge, and...DEFECATION!! He had successfully eaten, digested, and defecated his first full meal since September of '07! My little man is on his way to recovery!
I intend to keep him on a 7-10 day feeding schedule, so as to not overload his digestive system to early. I don't want to start the cycle all over again, so I will show extreme patience, and let this little guy rest well between feedings. 10 days is my best chance for a full recovery. But we now have high hopes for Django. He is active, he is out of quarantine with a clean bill of health, and he has eaten and digested. I am keeping his temps higher, around 87*F, just to aid in speedy digestion, and as I said...his feeding schedule will remain lengthy compared to the rest of my collection. But he is doing good.
Hopefully over the next 2 or 3 feedings, I will start to see an increase in his weight, but for now...I am just happy he is eating and digesting. As long as we can keep this going...he will make an excellent addition to the collection!
Thanks for reading and sharing in my experience!
This poor little guy had regurgitated every meal he ever had except 2, and was beginning to rapidly decline in terms of weight and health. He is a gorgeous little Greeri king, but unfortunately, with 100+ breeding pairs lined up and going through pre-ovulation sheds...my buddy simply didn't have time to dedicate to this little guy, and his outlook was very poor...he wasn't going to make it.
So...my buddy offered him to me. If I was willing and had the time to work with him, I could have. Well...Greeris are on my list of "Must Have" snakes, and this little guy is exactly what I would look for in a male, so I figured...Why not? I took the little guy in.
I brought him home, put him in quarantine with temperatures higher than normal...around 87-89*F, instead of my usual 85*F, and let him settle. After 4 days of settling in, I cut the tail off of an adult mouse, dipped it in Nutri-Bac, and forced him to eat it. Wouldn't you know it...4 days later...DEFECATION!! He had successfully digested a very small, but very nutritous meal, and managed to load his gut with probiotics. That's a good sign.
7 days later...I tried again. Cut the tail off of a frozen mouse, dipped it in Nutri-bac, and started to forcefeed him. This time, I wanted him to swallow it himself, so I only forced it in halfway. AND HE ATE IT! 4 days later...defecation. He had digested his second meal, and again, loaded his gut with positive biotic flora. Things are starting to look up for this little guy.
A week goes by...Now Django(I decided to name him afterall...) has been more active...cruising his tub, drinking water...checking things out. It's time for a real test...I took a 1 day old pinky...the smallest one in the litter. I dipped it's rump in water, and than a quick dip in Nutri-Bac. I decided that I was not going to assist in any way, this time. I wanted to see what would happen...
I put Django in a deli cup, placed the Nutri-Bac dipped pinky in with him, pre-killed to avoid motion and rubbing off the Nutri-Bac, placed the deli cup half over a heat source, and covered it with a towel. 3 hours later...SUCCESS!! Django ate the pinky all on his own...but now the real test would begin...
Being in quarantine, Django has been kept on newspaper, so that I can closely monitor his defecations and watch for a regurge. This pinky, as small as it was, looked HUGE in Django's belly. There was a feeding bulge twice the thickness of his body. I was nervous, but I know that these mountain kings are very good survivors, and capable of handling a meal of this size under normal conditions. So I waited and watched.
I would like to say I was patient, but I wasn't. I was too nervous. I checked every 5 hours or so, watching the bulge, looking for regurge...holding my breath. It seemed that he wasn't going to digest, because the bulge just didn't seem to go away...
Until yesterday. No bulge, and...DEFECATION!! He had successfully eaten, digested, and defecated his first full meal since September of '07! My little man is on his way to recovery!
I intend to keep him on a 7-10 day feeding schedule, so as to not overload his digestive system to early. I don't want to start the cycle all over again, so I will show extreme patience, and let this little guy rest well between feedings. 10 days is my best chance for a full recovery. But we now have high hopes for Django. He is active, he is out of quarantine with a clean bill of health, and he has eaten and digested. I am keeping his temps higher, around 87*F, just to aid in speedy digestion, and as I said...his feeding schedule will remain lengthy compared to the rest of my collection. But he is doing good.
Hopefully over the next 2 or 3 feedings, I will start to see an increase in his weight, but for now...I am just happy he is eating and digesting. As long as we can keep this going...he will make an excellent addition to the collection!
Thanks for reading and sharing in my experience!
