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Warm, helpful thoughts needed!

I'm still thinking good thoughts, Rich. You never know what's going to work.

My latest non-feeder had turned down pinkies that were f/t, washed, brained, stabbed in random places, halved, beheaded. I tried scenting with tuna, chicken, dirty bedding, and anole. She had no interest in any of it. Her disposition being the opposite of hateling, she wasn't at all inclined to strike at anything. Tease feeding did eventually resulted in strikes, but she considered the strikes a defensive moves only and never latched on for food.

We have a lot of Mediterraean (AKA house) geckos around here. I caught a big one who kindly gave me a tail to try to feed my baby. Wonder of wonders, when placed in a deli cup with the still-moving tail, she stared, then ate it all up immediately. Apparently that was what she'd wanted all along. After over a month of non-feeding, she's a healthy happy eater now.

Here's hoping yours will soon do something similar. :)
 
Rich, my King rat refused a meal so I put her in an aquarium with a Zoo med Daybulb which is a UVA emitting light. It made her feed perfect
 
Hey, not sure if this is an 'acceptable' way to do it but when I first got my snake nearly 11 years ago she refused to feed, the guy in the shop held her just behind the head and pressed the pinky head against her mouth till she opend up and ate, we had to do this 3-4 times and after that shes ate fine.

Its not really inhumane or anything, no harm is caused, maybe abit of stress but well, they gotta eat, better then having it put down.
 
Well then he's getting something:( Try other mouse parts for awhile hopefully he'll voluntarily feed for you in the next few months.
 
Maybe try a rat pink head?? Sometimes snakes prefer the taste of rat over the taste of mouse..This is just a thought though...but couldn't hurt...

Also one idea I have read up on is to place mouse scented bedding in with the snake's aspen and leave him in there overnight (no mouse..)...this "supposedly" gets them in hunting mode..then early in the morning before you go to work..place a brained pink, or live pink in a deli cup with the snake in the center of the mouse scented bedding...I don't garuntee this will work but the person who wrote it out said it worked for their stubborn eater...

best of luck to you and your little wormling..
 
Nanci said:
So at least you can keep him going till he's more cooperative...
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My thoughts exactly

danielle said:
Well then he's getting something:( Try other mouse parts for awhile hopefully he'll voluntarily feed for you in the next few months.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

The mouse tail was suggested because once you get it started, it is very difficult for the snake to spit it out. So he is forced to eat it.

Maize411 said:
Maybe try a rat pink head?? Sometimes snakes prefer the taste of rat over the taste of mouse..This is just a thought though...but couldn't hurt...

Also one idea I have read up on is to place mouse scented bedding in with the snake's aspen and leave him in there overnight (no mouse..)...this "supposedly" gets them in hunting mode..then early in the morning before you go to work..place a brained pink, or live pink in a deli cup with the snake in the center of the mouse scented bedding...I don't garuntee this will work but the person who wrote it out said it worked for their stubborn eater...

best of luck to you and your little wormling..
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Hmmm...well I definitely have plenty of mouse bedding now. I may have to try that and see if it will work.

Thanks, Des!
 
If you have to force feed mouse parts, I find it best to use a newborn pink head, with shoulders attached. Put a little butter on the nose, and it slides in pretty easily. The shoulder skin makes a sort of handle for you to hold onto - don't get butter there - makes it too slippery! Because it is such a nice little lump, you can easily massage it into the throat, far enough so it is not usually spit up again.

But I pretty much gave up on force feeding pinks a few years ago. Now I tube feed egg yolks or ferret food if I decide to force feed something. Much easier, and seems to work well.
 
I am sure that vegetable oil would work as well. But since they are carnivores, I figured butter is an animal product, and more natural for them. So that is why I use it.
 
kathylove said:
If you have to force feed mouse parts, I find it best to use a newborn pink head, with shoulders attached. Put a little butter on the nose, and it slides in pretty easily. The shoulder skin makes a sort of handle for you to hold onto - don't get butter there - makes it too slippery! Because it is such a nice little lump, you can easily massage it into the throat, far enough so it is not usually spit up again.

But I pretty much gave up on force feeding pinks a few years ago. Now I tube feed egg yolks or ferret food if I decide to force feed something. Much easier, and seems to work well.
Click to expand...

I will definitely try this. Thanks, Kathy!!
 
Continued good luck Rich....

kathylove said:
If you have to force feed mouse parts, I find it best to use a newborn pink head, with shoulders attached. Put a little butter on the nose, and it slides in pretty easily. The shoulder skin makes a sort of handle for you to hold onto - don't get butter there - makes it too slippery! Because it is such a nice little lump, you can easily massage it into the throat, far enough so it is not usually spit up again.

But I pretty much gave up on force feeding pinks a few years ago. Now I tube feed egg yolks or ferret food if I decide to force feed something. Much easier, and seems to work well.
Click to expand...

Butter, never thought of that. George Van Horn uses chicken baby food on his Coral snakes and stubborn hatchlings. He has had good results.
 
I'm keeping up the good thoughts for you and this baby, Rich. One of my hatchlings has quit eating, and I'm working my way through the tricks without luck. I may be buttering up a mouse here, too!
 
A friend donated a bunch of nice, but non-feeding babies - including butter stripes, bloods, and hets for this and that. So I decided to use them as an experiment for the ferret food I use.

Some are already 6+ weeks old, and kind of weak. So some will probably die right away as they will not be able to digest the food. But for the ones that survive, I think I will continue to feed them nothing but ferret food for many months, and see how healthy they are when I decide to offer them mice again. It will not be very scientific - I am doing a lot of shows coming up, and friends are doing some of the feeding. No careful measuring of food or weighing of snakes, or careful records, at least for this year. But if they are still healthy after a few months, it will tell us something.

BTW, I already fed 3 baby Amazon tree boas nothing but this food via syringe for 8 months before offering mice again, and they are now eating and doing great almost a year later!
 
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