A little advice?

I gave Trey his last antibiotic shot night before last. When I took him to the vet two weeks ago, he told me I might be tube feeding for quite a while, and to wait 2 weeks before trying another mouse.
Well, it's been 2 weeks, but of course as I stated, I just finished up with the antibiotic shots. Tonight he is due for a tube feeding.
What I wonder is, should I go ahead and tube feed him, or wait a few more days and try a mouse? Will he even want to eat a mouse if he's been fed this way?
Or should I call the vet and ask him what he thinks?
Trey is still at 51g, so far from a good weight, at 12 weeks old.

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

I gave Trey his last antibiotic shot night before last. When I took him to the vet two weeks ago, he told me I might be tube feeding for quite a while, and to wait 2 weeks before trying another mouse.
Well, it's been 2 weeks, but of course as I stated, I just finished up with the antibiotic shots. Tonight he is due for a tube feeding.
What I wonder is, should I go ahead and tube feed him, or wait a few more days and try a mouse? Will he even want to eat a mouse if he's been fed this way?
Or should I call the vet and ask him what he thinks?
Trey is still at 51g, so far from a good weight, at 12 weeks old.

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What do you mean by tube feeding? Are you tubing him for the purpose of administering meds? Or are you using a pinkie pump to provide nutrients?

Jamie, per her vet - she is tube feeding food to the snake. Adam advised her in another thread that if the vet recommended doing that, that she should.


I don't know what to advise on which to try this week - someone more experienced than myself should offer advice on that.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Jamie, per her vet - she is tube feeding food to the snake. Adam advised her in another thread that if the vet recommended doing that, that she should.


I don't know what to advise on which to try this week - someone more experienced than myself should offer advice on that.

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Hmm..Tube feeding food huh? I would agree that if its what the vet recommended then she should but I am not sure its the best thing. Is the problem that the snake wont eat prey items? What have you tried to feed? Tube feeding (or tubing the snake at all) is pretty stressful and in my opinion might do more harm than good. But again, thats my opinion from my experiences of dealing with non eaters and having tubed snakes for the purposes of providing medication.

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Tube feeding (or tubing the snake at all) is pretty stressful and in my opinion might do more harm than good.

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Some snakes get soooo sick that they totally lose the capability to hunt, constrict, and swallow prey on their own ... at that point, tube feeding them a protein rich diet until they regain the body weight and muscle tone to be able to feed on their own is paramount ... otherwise they will die.

A snake that is physically capable of feeding on its own in my opinion should never be tube fed or even force fed.

-adam

Here you go Jamie - some background information:


http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...3&page=1&pp=20

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Some snakes get soooo sick that they totally lose the capability to hunt, constrict, and swallow prey on their own ... at that point, tube feeding them a protein rich diet until they regain the body weight and muscle tone to be able to feed on their own is paramount ... otherwise they will die.

A snake that is physically capable of feeding on its own in my opinion should never be tube fed or even force fed.

-adam

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100% agreed..Its part of why I questioned the history since I dont remember seeing the original thread.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Here you go Jamie - some background information:


http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...3&page=1&pp=20

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Thanks for that. Not sure how I missed that thread.

I'm not sure what a pinkie pump is, but this is what the vet gave me:

http://sarah.digeratihost.com/images/syringe.jpg

He said to use Ensure Plus Protein, or a high protein baby food twice a week with it. He said I might be doing this for 6 months. I don't have a problem doing it, but I was leaving the office and just turned and asked when I should try mice again. He looked surprised and said "at least for 2 weeks". At the time, I didn't think to ask if I should discontinue tube feeding for a certain amount of days before attempting a mouse, but now that the situation actually confronts me, I have this question. Hopefully someone will be experienced enough to answer it, otherwise I will just go ahead and tube feed him tonight, as scheduled, and consult the vet again. I don't have a problem with calling him, now that I'm much more informed, thanks to this site.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Hmm..Tube feeding food huh? I would agree that if its what the vet recommended then she should but I am not sure its the best thing. Is the problem that the snake wont eat prey items? What have you tried to feed? Tube feeding (or tubing the snake at all) is pretty stressful and in my opinion might do more harm than good. But again, thats my opinion from my experiences of dealing with non eaters and having tubed snakes for the purposes of providing medication.

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Sorry, I forgot to answer a question. I tried f/t pinkies, f/t fuzzies, and live of each. He would kill the live ones, but not eat them. Later on, after the trip to the vet, he did develope a wobbly head, which he hadn't exhibited before. I'm thrilled to report that he no longer does that! He is seeming much stronger now, but I don't want to rush this. If he needs more tube feeding, I'm more than willing to do that. I do understand that this could stress him, though, so I would like to make the switch to mice as soon as he's ready. I just don't really know how to KNOW when he's ready.