Nanci
Alien Lover
(Snakes are so mysterious...)
This is little peppermint stripe Zero. He hatched right in the middle of the discovery about female cinders being more rare than males. Normally I don't pop babies until they are established feeders, but curiosity got the best of me.
Zero was a beautiful hatchling, with beautiful markings. He was sold, immediately. And then he didn't eat. Ever. I didn't panic- I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve. He didn't care. Because I didn't want him to starve to death, I started feeding him a mouse tail after every refusal.
Eventually, the buyer, who had been _extremely_ patient, gave up on him and chose another male. The very next feeding, Zero tease-fed. And the feeding after that, he ate by himself!
And then he took off. He would digest his pink as fast as possible and be out pacing the front of his bin, often, the next day. I started feeding him on a three or four day schedule, to give him a chance to catch up. He has never refused a meal again, after that tease-feeding, and he now eats, in a deli cup, no tricks, immediately! I am so proud of him.
I wonder- what made him change his mind?
This is little peppermint stripe Zero. He hatched right in the middle of the discovery about female cinders being more rare than males. Normally I don't pop babies until they are established feeders, but curiosity got the best of me.
Zero was a beautiful hatchling, with beautiful markings. He was sold, immediately. And then he didn't eat. Ever. I didn't panic- I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve. He didn't care. Because I didn't want him to starve to death, I started feeding him a mouse tail after every refusal.
Eventually, the buyer, who had been _extremely_ patient, gave up on him and chose another male. The very next feeding, Zero tease-fed. And the feeding after that, he ate by himself!
And then he took off. He would digest his pink as fast as possible and be out pacing the front of his bin, often, the next day. I started feeding him on a three or four day schedule, to give him a chance to catch up. He has never refused a meal again, after that tease-feeding, and he now eats, in a deli cup, no tricks, immediately! I am so proud of him.
I wonder- what made him change his mind?
