How to assist feed properly?

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Originally Posted by adizziedoll

When he said -
I dont want to find this thing dead tomorrow cause it ended up going 9 weeks with no food.

He was saying that he doesn't know how long the snake was at the pet store before he got it - he has had it for 3 weeks, and who knows if its been at the pet store for 1 week or 6 weeks, with no food.

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I undersand what you are saying but,

according to him...

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Originally Posted by whyteboi

This thing is a BABY. Im guessing under 1 week old. The shop got him on thursday, which is 4 days ago.

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on 5/21 he said it urated again....meaning it has done it before with him...in the 3 weeks total that he has had him? So it has only been a little over a week ago that this happened.

I think his facts are just a little off.

on a side note...i would like to know what the weight is of this bp and what his set up looks like.

in that same thread from 10 days ago that he was working on getting his set up corected. If he got it set up correctly then he has not given the bp enough time to adjust. since he did not have the money to go to the store till that friday which would have been the 25th.

all of this can cause undue stress.

imo he is just way too eager to assist feed.

Meme....urates and urine don't necessarily indicate that food has been consumed. Those can come from water consumption. Means it's safe to assume the snake is properly hydrated...but does not mean that the snake has eaten at some point in its past.


I agree with Ginger's last post. If Whyteboi has gotten the enclosure properly set up and is truly waiting 7 days between feeding attempts without messing with the snake in the meantime...then he's doing fine. All he needs is more patience. Not more scolding.

Try filling the enclosure with loosely crumpled newspaper and then just leave it alone for a week....and then leave a live rat pink or fuzzy mouse in there overnight. If he doesn't eat...just wait a week and try again. And in the meantime, do as Ginger suggests...research herp vets in your area and find out how much money you need to earn to get your little guy checked out.

I understand your anxiety about watching it starve to death...but these snakes are far hardier than you realize. Patience is the key when dealing with ball pythons.

I do understand what urates are....my point is that he has said he has had it for aprox 3 weeks now ndd that it was (what he believes) less than a week old when he bought it. How has he had time, in 3 weeks to give the bp time to adjust...with the proper set up (when he just fixed it a week ago)...and have seen 2 urates.

if he has only had it for 3 weeks how can he have tried every method of feeding (as he said). If he has tried all those different methods of feeding then I have to ask how when he said he is only offering every 7 days.

I am not by any means trying to scold him.

I guess I should use more smilies.

He seems pretty insistant on force feeding...which is probably unnecessary.

I apologize if I seemed to be scolding him.

that was not my intention. :oops:

I do agree that more patience is needed.

:)

I'd like to point out that he isn't asking about force feeding, but assist feeding, which is not a horrible thing to do. It definitely got my snake eating, but I don't think it should be tried until after a vet visit to check for parasites. Even if he just takes a fecal sample in without having to pay the office visit fee.

Assist feeding really isn't that difficult or traumatic, and I'm so grateful to Jamie for teaching me how to do it. I'd be happy to share what I learned, but my concern is that if the snake has parasites, assist feeding will not do much good at all. I think whyteboi is just in panic mode, much like I was the day I joined here :D

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Originally Posted by SarahMB

I'd like to point out that he isn't asking about force feeding, but assist feeding, which is not a horrible thing to do.

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I meant assist feeding. :oops:

and no if done properly...it is great.

I had to do it to my Trax. and it probably saved his life. :D

but it was an absolute last resort.

ok I am finished...I said what was jmo only.

HAVE A HAPPY FRIDAY PEOPLE!!!

:rockon:

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Originally Posted by jeffnme

I meant assist feeding. :oops:

and no if done properly...it is great.

I had to do it to my Trax. and it probably saved his life. :D

but it was an absolute last resort.

ok I am finished...I said what was jmo only.

HAVE A HAPPY FRIDAY PEOPLE!!!

:rockon:

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Hehe, sorry, that wasn't directed at you, MeMe! I just noticed that "force" had been used a few times in this thread, and not everyone knows the difference. I know you do! :D
And I agree completely, neither should be used until nothing else has worked, and there's no way everything has been tried with this snake yet. If whyteboi is telling the truth about his setup, then I think he's just worried and wants to take a shortcut.
It's so frustrating when people ask for advice and then refuse to take what is offered.

When my girl was a hatchling she would never touch anything that wasnt fully furred. Give her a full furred small- med mouse that is your best bet. Try a female mouse too, as it seems my snake is put off by the males scent marking.

Let me say I said he urated and urined or peed. I thought this meant he was very young because it was his yolk, but I found out all this means is that he is drinking, so then again I am left with no idea of how old he was. He was at least 10 days old, because he had already had his "baby" shed before I got him cause I have had him for like 3 weeks and no shed.

Ok, I dont care what he eats, but as long as he does, what do baby bp's seem most interested in? Im guessing fuzzy mice and not pinks. Possibly hoppers but I am not sure.

Im adding crumpled newspaper right now cause I never did that but I did take all the other advice, and I dont plan on forcefeeding, just opening his mouth with a qtip and pushing it in barely, just the mouses head and thats it, not even down his throat, so he gets the idea.

Thanks though

urates just mean he's hydrating himself, why all this talk about them having anything to do with feeding?

but back to the original poster, you're putting the cart before the horse. just take a step back and think how much you'd wanna eat if some big ugly giant thing kept prodding you. you're really getting ahead of yourself with assist feeding because you haven't let him settle as far as you've told us. and anyway 3 weeks is nothing even for a hatchling, so settle yourself. if you really are having problems once your animal is settled, then you can worry about feeding in a smal container, or in a completely dark small box, or even standing on your head spitting nickels. now you also havent shown us the health of the snake in your care, and honestly i think you'd be much more frantic if it was declining quickly. so, let it be, try again in a week. and by let it be i mean put a sheet over it if you have to and don't take it off. just make sure it has water for however long and LEAVE IT.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whyteboi

and I dont plan on forcefeeding, just opening his mouth with a qtip and pushing it in barely, just the mouses head and thats it, not even down his throat, so he gets the idea.

Thanks though

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Good luck ... and remember, assist feeding is a last resort ... not something that should be attempted because you don't feel like waiting any longer.

Hope this helps.

-adam

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