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What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
Ok here's the story.
We purchased 10 imported babies from a reputable source. Each was given a 6 quart tub and hides with water dish. Of the 10, 5 ate right away, two more after two tries. One we lost to starvation.
The last two babies simply will not eat. I have tried everything under the sun to coax them, but they simply do not know what food is. We attempted assisted feeding, to no avail. They spit the rodents every time, despite repeated patient attempts. Finally to prevent starvation, we resorted to force feeding.
We continue to offer various live foods each week, and each week food is refused. Each week we force feed yet again. As a result, the babies have gotten very headshy and are more difficult to feed every time. We began to try assist feeding again. We gently place the head and shoulders in the babies mouth, which is no small task, and time and again if the food is not spit right away, they simply lie motionless with the food in their mouths. And I don't mean for minutes, but for hours. I am at my wits end with these two. It genuinely seems like they don't know how to swallow prey. They are still pitifully thin, despite my best efforts.
When do you say, I tried but I simply can't do any more, it's time to end it peacefully ?
Gale
Last edited by angllady2; 08-15-2010 at 08:28 PM.
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Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
Put them on a 3-4 day feed schedule offer live, then assist as needed, hopefully it will turn around soon.
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"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Gandhi
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BPnet Veteran
Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
How many times have they been assist/force fed now? Sometimes it can take up to 10 tries. How much do they weight? How old? Maybe they're simply too weak?
Is everything else normal? No wheezing, pee and poop regularly? Have you taken them to the vet at all?
Feed on a 5-7 day schedule, a little extra hunger might just be whats needed to kick off the feeding response.
Throwing all the advice I can.
Hope they start eating. Don't give up just yet!
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Registered User
Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
have you tried Asian soft fur rats they are supposedly a ball pythons natural prey.
just a reminder imports aren't always the best kept or treated the best while transported yes it has gotten better they don't go burn fields to collect what crawls out like they use to. but they still aint treated all that well and have more then likely learned to fear humans already
another option all though costly try hamsters and gerbils I've coaxed more then one snake thats refused to eat to eat them then you just wean them off them by rubbing a dead mouse onto the gerbil or hamster
also hate to say this but some babies just aint meant to survive and maybe by some weird coincidence you got a few of the babies in 1 shipment.
another option since you said you been force feeding stop for a few weeks. I've had babies go months with out eating to finally take anything and everything offered to them. try small prey if you breed your own mice offer them a few pinkies most snakes Evan adults love new born prey they dont have to kill it. yes it might take a dozen babies a time or 2 but that will get it started back to eating and on the road to gaining weight. there is supplements on the market now a day to keep non feeders somewhat healthy till they decide to eat. there is even stuff now a days that supposedly makes them want to eat.
also a few questions are you offering live or f/t prey? them being wild caught imports they aint use to f/t prey. also are you sitting there watching them when you offer food? i know my green tree pythons wont eat if i watch them. but throw a mouse in walk out the room for even a minute and they got it sometimes i just got to turn around. do you offer them food with lights on or off not 100% sure but pretty sure but don't balls usually hide away in the day and come out at night to find food?
above all else stop force feeding that is stressing them out. yes i know i been there done that and have lost a few babies along the way.(I've bought my fair share of wild caught and to me dealing with a wild caught and a captive born are way different). wild caught knew freedom and had it ripped from them where as captive born has known nothing but being in a cage and had there food given to them so wild caught are stressed out from the second you got them) give them nothing but the requirements they need then. if they can see out of there cage cover there cages so they can't see you cause at this point in time they see you they think your going to either shove food down there throat and get stressed or they see you they think your going to rip them out of there environment like the people who caught them did.
i myself have better luck dealing with wild caught then captive borns I've always got them to breed easier gotten the babies to take food easier(mainly cause i had Asian soft furs from the get go cause the adults were sometimes picky eaters and refused all other foods so kept a few breeding at all times)
I'll send you a couple links to those supplements i talked about higher up. if they work i have no clue they weren't around back when i use to deal in wild caught balls but from what i read about them they seem to be made up of vitamins and minerals and such
and also have you had them checked by a vet yet it could be something medical of why they are refusing to eat but honestly in my opinion they are just way stressed out from being ripped from there environment by people then they got sold to somebody else then to you at least if not going threw 2 or 3 other people first so seeing people stress them then throw on top of that you forced them to eat when they were stressed stressing them out even further. yes I've lost my fair share of wild caught herps to stress related deaths so try this
cover there cages for the ones that you had to force feed and just leave them alone for a few weeks they will start eating on there own yes there is the risk you could loose them to starvation but if you keep forcing them to eat your going to keep them stressed out which will cause them to get sick cause stress lowers there immune system thus possibly loosing them later on down the road or causing loads of vet bills to get them back healthy to start the cycle all over again
maybe Evan deck there cages out kind of as densely as there home in the wild would be thus making them think they are in the wild thus getting rid of a Lil of there stress at least that and there cage covered so they can't see you any time you walk in the room will help them tons
sorry for the so long of response just giving you tons of things to try that has worked for me in the past with wild caught imports
i just like to argue and get you riled up dont take it to mean i dont like you or what I'm agueing about. I'm doing it for the joy of argueing dont anybody like good old fashion debates
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Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
 Originally Posted by ice#1
have you tried Asian soft fur rats they are supposedly a ball pythons natural prey.
African soft fur rats
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Registered User
Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
no i mean Asian soft fur rats thats how they are listed at any and every pet shop I've seen them at never seen an African soft fur rat no matter what there actual name is all i know is snakes go nuts over them even some of the most stubborn feeders
after quick INTERNET search guess i was wrong they are African soft fur but i was going on how pet shops list them around here in Illinois they are listed as Asian soft fur rats my bad though
Last edited by ice#1; 08-15-2010 at 11:21 PM.
i just like to argue and get you riled up dont take it to mean i dont like you or what I'm agueing about. I'm doing it for the joy of argueing dont anybody like good old fashion debates
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Registered User
Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
Disclaimer: I have absolutely 0 experience getting a WC baby to eat, but I thought I'd throw out the suggestion of tube feeding if you absolutely must get something into them...it may be a little less stressful than force-feeding. Basically, you can mix a pudding like diet called Hill's Science Diet a/d with a little Pedialyte. You need to get the a/d from a vet as well as a red rubber feeding tube and syringe. Fill the tube with your a/d mix and insert it into the esophagus a few inches (not the trachea, obviously!)...Slowly push down on the syringe. I would start with just a few mLs to see how they handle it (ie. make sure they are swallowing it) and go from there!
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Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
I appreciate the feedback.
Unfortunately, they are so very tiny and skinny, I cannot afford to stop feeding them for more than a week maybe two.
I have tried live food for the last several weeks, gone through rat and mouse pinkys, rat and mouse fuzzies, mouse hoppers and very small adult mice, nothing works. I have offered food in their tubs overnight, in a deli cup overnight, in a paper bag overnight, you name it. Tried chicken broth and tuna broth, nothing. Tried covering the tubs for a few days prior to feeding, nope. I can't get my hands on soft furs here, they are illegal.
We gave them 5 weeks after they arrived before we started trying to assist, it's been another 7 weeks we've tried assisting, but only 5 we've broken down and force fed. They are so very, very skinny, their skin just hangs in loose folds. It pinches my heart just to look at them. Right now we are feeding f/t pinky rats when we have to force, because they are small enough to go down easy. I've debated trying to step up to every 5 day feeding for their sake, but forcing every 7 is stressful enough.
I just wish I knew how to help them. No matter how many times we try to gently convince them to take the f/t by placing it in their mouths, they only spit it or just lay their with their mouths open and won't swallow. With live they just ignore it if it's small enough, or cower and hide if it's bigger. My heart just breaks, and I don't know what to do. 
Gale
Last edited by angllady2; 08-16-2010 at 12:41 AM.
1.0 Low-white Pied - Yakul | 1.0 Granite het Pied - Nago
1.0 Mojave - Okoto | 1.0 Vanilla - Kodama
1.0 Pastel - Koroku | 1.0 Fire - Osa
0.1 het Pied - Toki | 0.1 het Pied - Mauro
0.1 Mojave - Kina | 0.1 Blushback Cinnamon - Kuri
0.1 Fire - Mori | 0.1 Reduced Pinstripe - Sumi
0.1 Pastel - Yuki | 0.1 Dinker Normal - Akashi
0.1 Ghana Giant Normal - Tatari | 0.1 Dinker Normal - Kaiya
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Registered User
Re: What to do with a baby who won't swallow?
Take them to a vet. They'll be able to tell if it's a health problem or if these are just stressed. They might be able to do a less stressful assist/force feed so the snakes get some sort of nutrients.
Get them in as soon as possible.
Hope all turns out well with them. Best of luck getting them to feed!
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