Assisted Feeding Instructions

it simple only if the snake willing to go along. My one I had to force feed 2-3 times and it took me forcing hte food almost upto the rodents gut past the snake jaws, so it was in the throat and then i had to hold her to makes sure she didn't just swing her head to remove the opbject in her mouth after that she becamea walking trash can. I may end up having to do this with my het pied ot het him back eating he strickly just not wanting to eat, and i won't allow him to breed until he at least 900 grams.

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Originally Posted by mechnut450

I may end up having to do this with my het pied ot het him back eating he strickly just not wanting to eat, and i won't allow him to breed until he at least 900 grams.

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There is absolutely never a reason to assist feed an animal that has ever eaten in the past. If the snake is losing large amounts of weight due to a fast then there is something wrong. Also, you may want to rethink your weight requirements. I have a Spider male that has sired about 15 clutches over the years, is 4 years old, and has never weighed more than 780 grams.

Mitch,
In response to your post, I have seen some good explanations in here, but have seen one thing left out that we do. We let the prey sit in a cup of water for a few seconds to get wet. i believe this helps to lubricate the food before attempting to push it into the mouth. The only other hint I can give, is that we generally push the mouse into the snake until the front shoulders have just disappeared into the mouth of the snake. I have seen some people on this thread state that as soon as it gets into the mouth, it triggers a feeding response. It simply isn't that easy in most cases. We use the above method, as sometimes it is required to hit the throat before the feeding response kicks in. Even doing that, I have had animals assisted for 6 feedings before they get the hang of it.

Hope that helps,

Tim speaks the truth.. I spent many a Cell phone minute having him talk me through it last year and he's 100% right.

Thanks all! I'm really hoping it won't come to this for one of my girls... It's been about 9 weeks now and she's lost a little over a hundred grams.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

There is absolutely never a reason to assist feed an animal that has ever eaten in the past. If the snake is losing large amounts of weight due to a fast then there is something wrong. Also, you may want to rethink your weight requirements. I have a Spider male that has sired about 15 clutches over the years, is 4 years old, and has never weighed more than 780 grams.

Mitch,
In response to your post, I have seen some good explanations in here, but have seen one thing left out that we do. We let the prey sit in a cup of water for a few seconds to get wet. i believe this helps to lubricate the food before attempting to push it into the mouth. The only other hint I can give, is that we generally push the mouse into the snake until the front shoulders have just disappeared into the mouth of the snake. I have seen some people on this thread state that as soon as it gets into the mouth, it triggers a feeding response. It simply isn't that easy in most cases. We use the above method, as sometimes it is required to hit the throat before the feeding response kicks in. Even doing that, I have had animals assisted for 6 feedings before they get the hang of it.

Hope that helps,

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Can you do this with younger ball pythons? I have a male that I got a few weeks ago and he is about 70grams, he ate for the guy that produced him, but I have had no luck in the last 4 weeks getting him to eat.

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Originally Posted by BigDave

Can you do this with younger ball pythons? I have a male that I got a few weeks ago and he is about 70grams, he ate for the guy that produced him, but I have had no luck in the last 4 weeks getting him to eat.

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This is a 4 years old thread what I would encourage you is to make your own thread to gain more exposure and get answer to your question.

Now can you assist a BP like your yes but it is not likely necessary if he has eaten with the breeder the issue probably lies with your husbandry which is why a new thread with details on your husbandry and see how we can help you troubleshoot your issue would be best.