Death after assist feeding

So I have a baby that I hatched in late August. I gave her a while to start eating on her own, offering a hopper mouse every other week. She never started eating on her own though. I assist fed her a few times as well, starting about two months after she hatched, but not more than every other week. I continued to offer her hoppers, but she never took one. Then about 4 days ago I assist fed her a pinky rat again. I just stuck the head in her mouth and she ate it on her own. Today when I checked on her she was dead. I have never had a snake die, so this is new to me. However, I expected it since she lost strength to move the lower half of her body recently. Was she just too weak to digest the mouse, or could the assist feeding itself have killed her?


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Originally Posted by ReptileRant

So I have a baby that I hatched in late August. I gave her a while to start eating on her own, offering a hopper mouse every other week. She never started eating on her own though. I assist fed her a few times as well, starting about two months after she hatched, but not more than every other week. I continued to offer her hoppers, but she never took one. Then about 4 days ago I assist fed her a pinky rat again. I just stuck the head in her mouth and she ate it on her own. Today when I checked on her she was dead. I have never had a snake die, so this is new to me. However, I expected it since she lost strength to move the lower half of her body recently. Was she just too weak to digest the mouse, or could the assist feeding itself have killed her?


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My two cents. The assist feed didn't kill her.

The reason(s) you were assist feeding killed her. The underlying issues/illnesses.

I am really sorry for your loss. It's tough losing an animal, especially one you tried so hard to save.

She is at peace now. Find solace in the fact you tried.

Keep your head up.

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Originally Posted by ReptileRant

So I have a baby that I hatched in late August. I gave her a while to start eating on her own, offering a hopper mouse every other week. She never started eating on her own though. I assist fed her a few times as well, starting about two months after she hatched, but not more than every other week. I continued to offer her hoppers, but she never took one. Then about 4 days ago I assist fed her a pinky rat again. I just stuck the head in her mouth and she ate it on her own. Today when I checked on her she was dead. I have never had a snake die, so this is new to me. However, I expected it since she lost strength to move the lower half of her body recently. Was she just too weak to digest the mouse, or could the assist feeding itself have killed her?


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Doesn't seem like there is a real way to know. What's important is that you tried your best. Sorry for the loss. [emoji216]

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Originally Posted by dakski

The assist feed didn't kill her.

The reason(s) you were assist feeding killed her. The underlying issues/illnesses.

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I'm going with this. Some babies, for whatever reason, while outwardly perfect have internal issues and they don't eat. For this reason a lot of breeders won't assist feed, figuring that if the baby is healthy it will survive. It's also why good ones won't sell a neonate that hasn't eaten 3-5 times on its own.

Personally I don't subscribe to that practice and I have assist fed. Some neonates made it, some did not.

You gave that baby every chance at life and it just wasn't in the cards that it would survive.

No way to know what exactly killed your little snake- so sorry for your loss, but you did the best you could. Some just don't make it for various reasons- I think this was out of your hands.