Time for assist feeding?

[Lolo76]

Unfortunately one of my babies (from Julius & Mona's clutch of six) still hasn't eaten, and I'm starting to get a little worried. He hatched on 8/23 with a bit of unabsorbed yolk, finished the yolk about 4-5 days later, and shed on 9/3... hatch weight was 55g, then he spiked to around 63g after finishing the yolk, and is now back down to 53g. I've offered a rat pup and mouse hoppers of various sizes, and even tried leaving a f/t fuzzy in there overnight. He's normally healthy & active, but is looking kinda thin, so I'm wondering if it's time to assist feed? I watched some YouTube videos, and it doesn't seem that difficult. Or is it? Thought & suggestions would be appreciated!

P.S. Everyone else is eating GREAT, and haven't refused meals since their first feedings... each (other) baby has taken between 4-6 meals now, and are mostly weighing over 100g.

[Lolo76]

Here's how he looked about a week ago... he's a tad smaller today, but still seems to have normal energy/strength.





Thought he was gonna bite me here, LOL...

[AkHerps]

I think he is okay, I would give it a little bit more time, he still looks at a nice body weight.

What have you tried feeding? And how have you tried to offer it?

What is your set up like? Temps, etc..

Gotta give us the run down and then we can help

[Lolo76]

Sorry, I should have put all the details in my OP! So far I've offered live mouse hoppers, one live rat pup, and one f/t mouse fuzzy. I always feed in the enclosure, not moving or disturbing them before/after feeding. He's in a 6qt Sterilite tub in one of my racks, with 3" flexwatt giving him belly heat at 90 - ambients are a bit low around 75, which is the case with ALL of my tubs (it's always cold here). He has one small hide, and I just switched him from paper towel to Carefresh bedding... thought that would offer more security than paper, and I can't use Aspen due to allergies.

[Lolo76]

Here's his tub, before I switched to the Carefresh...

[AkHerps]

Try crumpling up some balls of newspaper and putting it in his enclosure.

Are you allergic to aspen as in, you can't touch it, or allergic to the dust?

Some picky feeders(like mine used to be) can somehow start eating when put on aspen, mine did the next day after the change, but that's my snake.

I would keep on with the live, and try a small adult mouse in his enclosure at night time, if you have too, sit and observe for a couple hours.

My hatchling also did not eat for a couple months. I switched him to aspen, crumpled some paper, and gave him a small adult live mouse in the middle of the night, and sat about 6 feet away from his cage with a book and just watched. Eventually he came out and got it, and ever since that first feeding is an eating machine!

[steveboos]

Well he looks nice and chubby, so i wouldn't go as far as to assist feed quite yet, if he dips even lower, i might start to worry, but he looks pretty good. The housing seems perfect, so i would just give him a couple more weeks with spaced out attempts, then hopefully he will come around.

[Lolo76]

Thanks to both of you! He does look a little smaller now than in the photos, but I agree he still doesn't look THIN... so I guess he's just not hungry enough yet. I'll try the tips you mentioned, and see what happens next week - wish me luck!

P.S. I'm allergic to the scent of Aspen, so I can't even have it nearby without asthma & sinus issues. But if that's a major bonus with problem feeders, I might be able to tolerate it for a few weeks - especially if it's only in one tub.

[Lolo76]

Speaking of hungry... I'm starving right now, and my neighbor just fired up their BBQ grill. Dang, I'm about ready to go knock on their door - it smells SO good!

[AkHerps]

Thanks to both of you! He does look a little smaller now than in the photos, but I agree he still doesn't look THIN... so I guess he's just not hungry enough yet. I'll try the tips you mentioned, and see what happens next week - wish me luck!

P.S. I'm allergic to the scent of Aspen, so I can't even have it nearby without asthma & sinus issues. But if that's a major bonus with problem feeders, I might be able to tolerate it for a few weeks - especially if it's only in one tub.

You could try everything else first and then try that as a last resort sort of thing. He may just need the newspaper, it helps them feel a lot more secure.

Sometimes they can be hungry enough, but not feel safe enough to feed.