Assist fed for first time.

9 clutches this year, 54 hatchlings. 52 started feeding within a month or less, Only 2 wouldn’t kill and eat for over 2 months, they started getting thin.
yesterday I tried assist feeding them a fresh killed African soft furred rat pup. It was violent wrestling with the hatchlings, but in the end, it worked. They ended up swallowing the prey and are sitting on the heat digesting.

I hope they will eat on their own now...any way, that was a weird snake keeping experience!


Kaos Balls

Well, the 2 non eaters didn’t eat again. All 32 of my other hatchling ate like they always do, like clocks.

I’m beginning to worry that maybe they are just somehow unhealthy snakes? They have no feeding instinct.
They are in little hatchling tubs in mostly dark, I am feeding African soft furred live rat fuzzies. Most of the other hatchlings take larger, older pups size even.

I had a spider hatchling like this, but it eventually struck and ate.


Kaos Balls

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

Well, the 2 non eaters didn’t eat again. All 32 of my other hatchling ate like they always do, like clocks.

I’m beginning to worry that maybe they are just somehow unhealthy snakes? They have no feeding instinct.
They are in little hatchling tubs in mostly dark, I am feeding African soft furred live rat fuzzies. Most of the other hatchlings take larger, older pups size even.

I had a spider hatchling like this, but it eventually struck and ate.


Kaos Balls

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In the wild, snakes like these would probably be "weeded out" by nature, but with patience will probably be OK with your help for a while. Not that I have a crystal ball though, it's always possible they have some
unseen characteristic(s) that will cause them not to thrive.

In my experience, snakes that go too long without eating are like human hospital patients without an IV to keep up their energy & get them going. But we can't do snake IV's, & at such times* I tube-feed a liquid
diet. *But I also don't think missing 2 feedings is critical yet either, so have fun for a while yet getting them going. Hope it's sooner & not later.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

I’m beginning to worry that maybe they are just somehow unhealthy snakes? They have no feeding instinct.

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Don't be discouraged. I have never had a ball python hatchling I could not get to eat on its own, but, I have assist fed for up to 6 months. The non-eaters turn out just as healthy at the others--sometimes a little smaller due to the slow start. :)

If you need to assist-feed again, a trick I have found is to cut the hind leg off of a f/t feeder and use that to start the process. The leg should be a good-sized mouthful for the snake, not so small that the snake can spit it out easily, and not so big that the snake will struggle to swallow it.

To assist feed, fold the hind leg at the hock by holding the cut end and the mouse/rat toes in one hand. Insert the folded end of the leg into the snake's mouth and partially down its throat; it's a lot easier to do this with a leg than with a squishy whole feeder. The snake will have a hard time spitting it out because the leg will get caught behind the snake's teeth, plus you can push on the long thigh bone in the leg to get it well started into the snake's throat.

Once the snake stops trying to spit out the leg and starts to swallow instead, it's easy to train-feed an appropriately-sized f/t whole prey feeder behind it. I prefer to use a whole feeder that's a bit on the larger side of the appropriate prey size, as that lets you wait two weeks between feedings.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

If you need to assist-feed again, a trick I have found is to cut the hind leg off of a f/t feeder and use that to start the process. The leg should be a good-sized mouthful for the snake, not so small that the snake can spit it out easily, and not so big that the snake will struggle to swallow it.

To assist feed, fold the hind leg at the hock by holding the cut end and the mouse/rat toes in one hand. Insert the folded end of the leg into the snake's mouth and partially down its throat; it's a lot easier to do this with a leg than with a squishy whole feeder. The snake will have a hard time spitting it out because the leg will get caught behind the snake's teeth, plus you can push on the long thigh bone in the leg to get it well started into the snake's throat.

Once the snake stops trying to spit out the leg and starts to swallow instead, it's easy to train-feed an appropriately-sized f/t whole prey feeder behind it. I prefer to use a whole feeder that's a bit on the larger side of the appropriate prey size, as that lets you wait two weeks between feedings.

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I’ve ripped the thighs off thawed chicks as well .. they are very easy to use for assist feeding .. holding the foot and feeding thigh first


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