Hatchling going south

Hope everything goes well,

Daniel

Have you tried just offering him a live mouse hopper recently? Might be worth a try.

Mouse hoppers are way to large for this snake. He tried swallowing a day old pink and he couldn't get that down. He has not shed yet and he hasn't gotten any food down at all. I'm taking him today to get fed with a pinky pump and we will see what happens. I also have stuff for tube feedings. If after 1-2 weeks of tube and pinky pump feedings, he doesn't gain any weight, I'm putting him down.

Use one of these

http://www.growforce.co.uk/product_i...ic-syringe.jpg

And pump some yellow egg yolk into his belly and he'll be just fine. You can find one of them with children medicines. Thats where I got mine from...

We did that last week. I think we got at least a little into him, but we shall see. I'm about to go upstairs to weigh everyone. He was 34g last time I checked him (before the tube feeding). His original hatch weight was 37g, so he's lost 3g. That may be due his dehydration or it might be actual weight loss. I guess we will see.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

We did that last week. I think we got at least a little into him, but we shall see. I'm about to go upstairs to weigh everyone. He was 34g last time I checked him (before the tube feeding). His original hatch weight was 37g, so he's lost 3g. That may be due his dehydration or it might be actual weight loss. I guess we will see.

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Have you tried letting him eat on his own recently? Maybe try an ASF hopper if you think a mouse is too big. Hatchlings usually go crazy for them so maybe it will get him going.

The thing is, he will not swallow ANYTHING. Just because its live or an asf won't make this problem better. He can't swallow anything and that is why we have to use a pinky pump or tube feedings to get some weight on him. He can't even swallow a day old mouse pink. He sat with it in his throat for over 24 hours! He finally spat it back out. And after all of that, he starts getting dehydrated. He can't handle a whole prey item yet. If he starts gaining weight with the pinky pump and tube feedings, then we can try and get him a little larger and try a mouse pink again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

The thing is, he will not swallow ANYTHING. Just because its live or an asf won't make this problem better. He can't swallow anything and that is why we have to use a pinky pump or tube feedings to get some weight on him. He can't even swallow a day old mouse pink. He sat with it in his throat for over 24 hours! He finally spat it back out. And after all of that, he starts getting dehydrated. He can't handle a whole prey item yet. If he starts gaining weight with the pinky pump and tube feedings, then we can try and get him a little larger and try a mouse pink again.

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My thinking is that he may have a much better swallowing response if he killed the prey and was in feeding mode instead of a prey item just being shoved into his mouth. I think it's at least worth a try. I wouldn't give up on him eating naturally after only one attempt. Either way, good luck with him.

Do you have a pic from the side that shows the upper kink? It seems almost impossible to me that he could not swallow a day old mouse pink if he really wanted to. I just hatched out a 30 gram snake that was eating mouse hoppers as it first meal. I know yours has some special circumstances, but I think if the pinky pump can get down his throat a day old pink should be able to as well.

Maybe try just a pinky head. I know that works for baby corn snakes when I have a problem feeder. Might not work but it is worth a shot.

I hope this little one pulls through I have been reading this since the start and I want to see it live. I know you are giving this guy more than a fighting chance and I want to see it pay off for you.

Good luck.

Hi,

I've used mouse tails for really tiny snakes before. They don't have the nutrition your mix will have but they do get it used to the process of feeding and swallowing.

Just something to think about if he gets there.


dr del