Getting babies to eat

I have a little one who is giving me a really hard time. F/T, live .. he rejects everything. Temps are consistent and descent, I give him his solo time, .. the other 4 snakes in the same rack are pounding food.

I NEED HELP!

Have you tried filling his enclosure with crumpled newspaper? Sometimes it can help them feel secure enough to eat. Try putting that in, then wait a few days and introduce a small prey item that is safe to leave in there with him (no erupted teeth). Put in the prey, leave them overnight in the dark and see if that works. It's a pretty handy trick.

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Originally Posted by cuda

I have a little one who is giving me a really hard time. F/T, live .. he rejects everything. Temps are consistent and descent, I give him his solo time, .. the other 4 snakes in the same rack are pounding food.
I NEED HELP!

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You can provide details regarding his setup (enclosure size, temps, humidity etc)?

How old is this BP, has he ever take a meal before?

Maybe leaving a live mouse over night isn't the best of ideas.I know you said that the mouse would have no erupted teeth but still the snake seems stressed and putting a mouse that he/she doesn't want to eat for the night is going to stress him/her out.

Crumpled paper sounds good i guess it is all about security! Oh and i am not expert this is purely on my experience i have had with snakes .

Chuck, for some snakes leaving a "safe" live prey overnight with them is a good way to get them to eat. For some it won't work of course but it's just another trick of the trade to encourage a fussy eater to take their dinner.

Hi,

Just a point - it's possible to contain the mouse and, in doing so, make it even more tempting to some snakes. :)

A nice tall flowerpot placed upside down with a hole in the top big enough for the snake + eaten mouse (you'd be amazed how many people don't think of that bit :giggle: ) with some mouse bedding in the bottom will make the mouse feel safe, keep it contained away from the snake until the snake decides to investigate and also mimic a rodent burrow with a nest at the end from the snakes point of view. ;)


dr del

Sorry man after all you are the expert.

Theres always the paper bag trick too.
Put a fuzzy rat in the paper bag with the snake over night with plenty of room and put it in the cage. :]

Have you tried mice and rats? Some are just born mice eaters while others won't eat anything but rats. ;]

Thanks for the replies .. all good things to try. It's just frustrating. This would be his first feeding, and I am just wanting him to take it so I can feel better. The other that I got it missed a meal or two aswell, but they have all acclimated and last night I couldn't keep them from the food.

I was hitting one of the F/T rats with a hair drier to both dry him off after tha bag leaked and get the temps up a bit. That must have blown the scent around because the little man I was going to feed him too went from the back of his cage, under the paper, to poking his head out the front in no time. He knocked over his hide and ran into his bowl he was so excited!

Then I have my little one who look at the food and turns around ... it's just .. it just sucks.

I am certainly no expert but I came across this article on getting babies to eat and it has some interesting ideas...

http://www.faunaimportuk.com/careshe...yal_python.htm