force feeding advice?

I have a snake at my work that was on meds and wouldn't eat. I waited til all meds were admin, plus one week to make sure they were through the system. She was healthy but hadn't eaten.

Our breeder recommended placing her in a small deli cup with a pinky or mouse hopper, so the mouse had to touch or wiggle on the snake. He said the snake will get sick of the touching and eventually eat.

Just an idea that might be less stressful than forcing or assisted.
But they really won't eat while meds are in their systems.

good luck

Quote:

---

How much longer do you have to give it meds?

---

Until it's all gone.. but we've gone back once already to get a refill on one, and got an additional one. I'm not real sure how much longer that's going to be..

Quote:

---

Have you seen any symtoms lately similar as what prompted you to take it to the vet in the first place?

---

Yes and no. She is MUCH better that what she was before. Before, i was wigging out, thinking it was IBD. The vet thought it was an inner ear infection, caused by her temps getting to low at night.. the reason she thought that, was because our girl is always turning to the right. (She doesn't have a lot of muscular control in the first 2-3 inches of her neck..When we took her to the vet, it was pretty much her whole body.) She has a lot more control now, and is a LOT harder to hold on to when we give her her meds.. she's got enough control to get inside her little hole for her hide now, so that's good!:)

Quote:

---

In my experiance (15 years of snake keeping) your animal needs to be left alone for at least a week.

---

There is a delema... with the meds we're giving her, and the humidity issue I seem to be having, It seems we are are constant bother to her. What do I do? Not give her meds? We just made the humidifier in the DIY section, and although it's only been hooked up for about an hour, I'm hoping to see a change in there so we don't have to mess with moss or anything else as much. We keep doing this, and changing that to get her inclosure correct, and then holding her everyday, pissing her off giving her the meds, (which, btw, she HATES the baytril...!!) In trying to help her, we're only making things worse, it seems.

I think I may go looking for a specialized cage. anyone know of any other good ones other than at reptile basics?

Just put her in a tub.. It will make things easier on both you and her. You: keeping temps and humidity where they are supposed to be. Her: stress level decreases drastically because of the enclosed space, not to mention stable temps and humidity.

You can get nice, transparent tubs at Target. They are the ClearView type. For snakes up to about 800g, they can stay in the 15qt tubs and then get moved to the 32qt tubs. You want a tub that is 6-6.5" tall, no higher or you're wasting all of that space trying to heat it. If heat only has to rise 6", the ambient temps won't suffer.

Just try it, I promise she'll be a happier, less-stressed snake. And don't worry about feeding, she likely won't feel like eating until all of the meds are done. Her beneficial bacteria has to rebuild itself, and if you don't wait for it to do that, she may regurgitate. Wait a week after she's done with the meds and feed. She'll be just fine.

You might also want to go back to your vet and have a culture done. If the meds haven't worked in this long, then chances are they will never work. A week is all I give for the snake to respond to medications, and if they don't, then they get a culture and different medications.

My animals are in plastic tubs with holes drilled in the sides heated by heat tape on a thermostat. Also the tubs are in a buffet style piece I built that closes so they see nothing no movement even if we are in the room. These animals really arent the best display animals. They probably do feel more secure in a tub and it is much easier to maintain there correct climate in this manner. As far as the meds go Im always suspicious of vets (they have bills to pay too ya know). Give it the meds as long as you feel its ness but understand that it will more than likely not eat until its had ample time to get over this traumatic expeirence your putting it through. Im not sure if you have any exp with any other types of critters but I have a bit of a zoo here and in the past have lost exp salwater fish, snakes, and lizards it happens it sucks but remember this is a snake at the end of the day it will never be emotionaly attatched to you just like a fish. So ya it sucks to loose it esp if we are at fault. I cried when I put my dog to sleep , I get a new snake when I loose one.