HELP!!! Something wrong with my hatchling

I caught himin themiddle of a yawn. Since the mouse was a frozen mouse (I thawed it out) his head went into the snakes mouth. Then he just started eating it. I am sure if he didn't want it he would have spit it back out.

Well this morning I checked on him to be sure he was ok and he was dead. It just happen to be that the pet shop I got him from isn't open until Monday. Poor little guy. I had a vets appointment on Moday for him too.

Wow, sorry to hear that he didn't make it :(

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Originally Posted by vettegirl

I caught himin themiddle of a yawn. Since the mouse was a frozen mouse (I thawed it out) his head went into the snakes mouth. Then he just started eating it. I am sure if he didn't want it he would have spit it back out.

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Yawn? Was he/she blowing his throat out at all? "Yawning" a lot?

What you did was a form of "force-feeding", and isn't unheard of in these circumstances either. Accidental as it might be, that is what it was. When a something goes into the back of their throat it triggers a muscle reflex and it automatically swallows.

Sorry to hear he/she died. :rainon:

OMG really? I feel so bad now. I didn't realize they will auto. eat when something touches the back of their mouth. I really feel horriable now. Thank you for the information and I will remember it in the future.

I can't find the exact quote presently as I have lent my copy of The Ball Python Manual to a friend but in it it says that force-feeding cause additional stress that can finish off particularly week and stressed snakes. So it is possible that he died of the stress caused by the force-feeding if the manual is to be believed.

Honestly, I wouldn't beat yourself up too badly over this....that hatchling had a hard start- probably imported, changed hands many times without food or water, sat in the pet shop, then ended up in your hands. Make sure for next time you get a well-started CBB animal from a reptuable source.

And next time you see any animal in less than humane conditions at a pet store- try your best to realize that "rescuing" the animal is only going to motivate the pet store to get yet another animal to replace it, keep it in the same conditions, and make another sale. If the pet store starts losing sales due to the conditions in which their animals are kept, they may start making changes. Until then, they'll make their money off of good-hearted suckers like you!

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

Yawn? Was he/she blowing his throat out at all? "Yawning" a lot?

What you did was a form of "force-feeding", and isn't unheard of in these circumstances either. Accidental as it might be, that is what it was. When a something goes into the back of their throat it triggers a muscle reflex and it automatically swallows.

Sorry to hear he/she died. :rainon:

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I would call what she did "assist feeding"

Force feeding usually involves a bit more force IMO :)

Surely, assisted-feeding cause stress also though?

I'm very sorry for your loss. R.I.P.

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

When a something goes into the back of their throat it triggers a muscle reflex and it automatically swallows.

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Guess you've never tried to assist feed a baby ball and have it spit the prey item back out at you? ... LOL ... there is no reflex that makes the "automatically swallow". :sweeet:

-adam

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Originally Posted by Lovable sam

So it is possible that he died of the stress caused by the force-feeding if the manual is to be believed.

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Possible ... but more likely that he died because he was already in too poor of health to properly digest the meal in his system.

-adam

Wow, sorry for your loss; seems like if there's anyone to blame here, it'd be the store, in my humble opinion. Anyone with a lick of responsibility, who gets in CH babies (or even sells their own CBB babies, hell,) will establish them well before thinking of selling them.
If you're seriously interested in these snakes, I would not let this experience deter you. Go out, set up a cage with right-on temps, hides, etc. and then get a nice, healthy, and fat baby (or even an "older model") from one of the breeders out there with a good reputation; it is definately worth it!