How to assist feed properly?

Okay instead of panic mode, let's just take a breath and work the problem step by step. The snake is a baby, has no feeding experience as far as you know, may nor may not be in good health, it is passing urates so you at least know it is hydrated.

First understand where the baby's head is at right now. It's likely an import, scared witless, pretty much figures you want to eat it, is defensive and can't settle enough and feel secure enough to want to eat. Eating is a vulnerable time for snakes as they can neither fight back nor easily flee with a face full of half swallowed prey. So first off, get the snake into a living condition that will allow it to feel safe.

We use this sort of very small enclosure for the babies and so far it's worked beautifully. A really flighty baby gets crumpled newspaper added in and if they aren't eating they go into a darkened walk in closet or a back bedroom where there is little to no movement near them, music, doors slamming open and closed and so forth. They aren't handled or bothered other than basic cage maintenance and the lights are always low/dark.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ordanFeb07.jpg

This entire setup costs well under $10.00. The Iris brand shoebox is about $5.00, the little blue bowl was 3 for $1.00 and the ramekin water dish was 4 for $6.00. The newspaper's basically free or at most 50 cents.

Once you have the baby set up then don't even try to feed for another week to two weeks. Let it destress and become confident in it's new home. Confident snakes are snakes that hunt and consume prey. Scared snakes do not.

You need to consider getting this baby to a herp vet. This may entail borrowing money from friends, finding some fast day work to raise funds, speaking to a vet about a payment plan or work for the vet in exchange for a basic checkup and fecal float/vent wash and any meds needed if internal parasites are found. If this snake is ill, that's just got to be dealt with for anything else to be really effective.

If the snake is found to be healthy and it's enviroment allows it to de-stress, then offering it either a pinkie rat or a crawler mouse would be the next step. Pick a quiet evening (they are nocturnal so after dark is best I think), pre-scent the area with the live prey item in a ventilated container left near the snake's home, move very quietly yourself and be calm and slow in your own movements near the snake's enclosure. Leave the live prey in there a good hour or two, then slip it in to the enclosure on the opposite side from wherever the snake is. Do NOT drop live prey directly in the face of your snake, that will startle it and put it back into a defensive posture. Put in the prey and walk away making sure the lights are off and it's quiet. Live prey of that maturity do not have the erupted teeth necessary to damage your snake. Do NOT check back every few minutes, leave them overnight if you have to. If you happen to walk in and the snake is constricting it's prey, don't watch, don't stick around, sneak away and leave it to it's natural work. Some snakes if startled during constriction will finish that part but not settle down to actually swallow the dead prey item.

Don't panic, work the problem, seek vet advice. :)

Ok I added crumpled newspaper, with with the two hides, and water bowl, he has no room to like hunt a mouse, did I put too much in, or do I take it out before he eats, or do I feed him in a seperate container with scented mouse?

You want the crumpled up newspaper to be loosely crumpled and not jammed in too tight. Basically just filling the space but loose enough he can slither under and through it. He'll find the mouse, no worries. In the wild they hunt in all sorts of conditions with leaf litter, in black as night burrows, etc. Your snake hunts by picking up the vibrations of prey movement, by smell and by reading heat signatures so a bit of newspaper in the way shouldn't be any issue at all. It should actually give him the "cover" needed to feel safe and unexposed, therefore encouraging him to become a confident hunter.

Remember now, since you are making these changes you want to leave him be totally for the next week other than a quick peek to make sure he's got water...no handling, no attempts to feed. Review steps on live feeding that members have given you before the next feeding attempt.

If all this works and he starts eating do not change feeding method, prey type or prey size. Let him eat what he wants, how he wants it...change nothing, not the time of day fed, the day fed...do what worked EXACTLY the same week after week. After at least 4 weeks of eating you can start to VERY slowly remove a few bits of the newspaper each week. It may take a long time to finally have no newspaper left...that's fine. If he is eating and suddenly starts refusing again, stop removing the newspaper immediately.