Hatchling going south

I checked on Rubiix this morning and he looked great. We gave him water by tube (he was really really dehydrated) last night. When I checked him in the morning, he looked normal and hydrated and looked amazing. Tonight when I checked on him, he was wrinkly and looking severely dehydrated. :(

I'm really considering putting him down because he is obviously suffering. I highly doubt he will be able to eat on his own and I don't want to keep putting him through all this stress.

Sorry to hear that but maybe for the BEST.....

I am not sure about your hole story is this the little guy that wont eat? You can try subqutanious fluid. It will be absorbed easier then water by mouth. But if the snake is to far gone there might not be any chance of survival. Sorry to hear it is not doing well.

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Originally Posted by MKHerps

I am not sure about your hole story is this the little guy that wont eat? You can try subqutanious fluid. It will be absorbed easier then water by mouth. But if the snake is to far gone there might not be any chance of survival. Sorry to hear it is not doing well.

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I'm confused by your first sentence. I checked on him this morning and he is still looking very dehydrated. I am misting him and refreshing his water daily so I'm not sure why he's getting so dehydrated. I'm going to wait until we try the pinky pump on Monday or Tuesday before deciding to put him down.

Can you post some pictures? I'm sure its not a husbandry issue, but before you decide to euthanise, maybe you can get some other advice. Other may have seen it, and words can only go so far. I'm sorry to hear about the little fella.

Try soaking him in Pedialite (for kids) 30 minutes a couple times a day. That really does the trick most of the time for dehydration. Should also help add some needed nutrients.

Has he had his first shed yet? If not, he should be on moist paper towels.

Have you tried tube feeding canned dog food mixed with water to a slightly runny paste? Read around the web for tube feeding snakes.

Or try force feeding him a mouse pink. Somthing really small. Good luck with him.
:gj:

We got a few jars of chicken baby food we are going to try tube feeding him this week. I am checking on him 2-3 times daily and changing his water every time. I am also misting him this many times a day and he is looking much better. He is not as wrinkled and his skin snaps back into place when gently pinched.

I'm taking him tomorrow to get fed by a pinky pump. We shall see how this goes.

Hope everything goes well,

Daniel

Have you tried just offering him a live mouse hopper recently? Might be worth a try.

Mouse hoppers are way to large for this snake. He tried swallowing a day old pink and he couldn't get that down. He has not shed yet and he hasn't gotten any food down at all. I'm taking him today to get fed with a pinky pump and we will see what happens. I also have stuff for tube feedings. If after 1-2 weeks of tube and pinky pump feedings, he doesn't gain any weight, I'm putting him down.

Use one of these

http://www.growforce.co.uk/product_i...ic-syringe.jpg

And pump some yellow egg yolk into his belly and he'll be just fine. You can find one of them with children medicines. Thats where I got mine from...

We did that last week. I think we got at least a little into him, but we shall see. I'm about to go upstairs to weigh everyone. He was 34g last time I checked him (before the tube feeding). His original hatch weight was 37g, so he's lost 3g. That may be due his dehydration or it might be actual weight loss. I guess we will see.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

We did that last week. I think we got at least a little into him, but we shall see. I'm about to go upstairs to weigh everyone. He was 34g last time I checked him (before the tube feeding). His original hatch weight was 37g, so he's lost 3g. That may be due his dehydration or it might be actual weight loss. I guess we will see.

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Have you tried letting him eat on his own recently? Maybe try an ASF hopper if you think a mouse is too big. Hatchlings usually go crazy for them so maybe it will get him going.

The thing is, he will not swallow ANYTHING. Just because its live or an asf won't make this problem better. He can't swallow anything and that is why we have to use a pinky pump or tube feedings to get some weight on him. He can't even swallow a day old mouse pink. He sat with it in his throat for over 24 hours! He finally spat it back out. And after all of that, he starts getting dehydrated. He can't handle a whole prey item yet. If he starts gaining weight with the pinky pump and tube feedings, then we can try and get him a little larger and try a mouse pink again.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

The thing is, he will not swallow ANYTHING. Just because its live or an asf won't make this problem better. He can't swallow anything and that is why we have to use a pinky pump or tube feedings to get some weight on him. He can't even swallow a day old mouse pink. He sat with it in his throat for over 24 hours! He finally spat it back out. And after all of that, he starts getting dehydrated. He can't handle a whole prey item yet. If he starts gaining weight with the pinky pump and tube feedings, then we can try and get him a little larger and try a mouse pink again.

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My thinking is that he may have a much better swallowing response if he killed the prey and was in feeding mode instead of a prey item just being shoved into his mouth. I think it's at least worth a try. I wouldn't give up on him eating naturally after only one attempt. Either way, good luck with him.

Do you have a pic from the side that shows the upper kink? It seems almost impossible to me that he could not swallow a day old mouse pink if he really wanted to. I just hatched out a 30 gram snake that was eating mouse hoppers as it first meal. I know yours has some special circumstances, but I think if the pinky pump can get down his throat a day old pink should be able to as well.

Maybe try just a pinky head. I know that works for baby corn snakes when I have a problem feeder. Might not work but it is worth a shot.

I hope this little one pulls through I have been reading this since the start and I want to see it live. I know you are giving this guy more than a fighting chance and I want to see it pay off for you.

Good luck.

Hi,

I've used mouse tails for really tiny snakes before. They don't have the nutrition your mix will have but they do get it used to the process of feeding and swallowing.

Just something to think about if he gets there.


dr del

I wasn't able to take him out there today for the pump feeding (meeting at work, ugh!) but I'm taking him out there tomorrow after work.

When I tried the tube feeding a while back we had the tube in about an inch (we hit resistance and figured it was him bending himself) and pumped egg yolk. Some of it came back up and I saw that some was sitting in his throat. I ran my thumb down his throat to move the egg down and I felt it move as if it couldn't go down and it felt bubbly. My mother in law said it might be that his digestive tract won't allow anything to pass down and he may never be able to eat. It almost seems like his digestive tract just stops at that last kink. The kink doesn't seem all that bad and doesn't feel that bad, but that is where the food stops, both the pink and the egg, so we shall see. If he can't eat, he can't eat.

He's never left a urate or a poop, so I'm really starting to lean towards the idea that his digestive tract is underdeveloped.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I wasn't able to take him out there today for the pump feeding (meeting at work, ugh!) but I'm taking him out there tomorrow after work.

When I tried the tube feeding a while back we had the tube in about an inch (we hit resistance and figured it was him bending himself) and pumped egg yolk. Some of it came back up and I saw that some was sitting in his throat. I ran my thumb down his throat to move the egg down and I felt it move as if it couldn't go down and it felt bubbly. My mother in law said it might be that his digestive tract won't allow anything to pass down and he may never be able to eat. It almost seems like his digestive tract just stops at that last kink. The kink doesn't seem all that bad and doesn't feel that bad, but that is where the food stops, both the pink and the egg, so we shall see. If he can't eat, he can't eat.

He's never left a urate or a poop, so I'm really starting to lean towards the idea that his digestive tract is underdeveloped.

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Yea, with what you have said about him getting dehydrated I think his chances of survival are very slim. I have a friend that had incubation problems with a clutch last year. Had a bunch of kinked babies and one by one they would get dehydrated like you described and they all eventually died off. Even the ones that were feeding.

He is staying hydrated as long as I change his water 1-2 times a day and mist him twice daily, so we shall see how things go. This is his last chance. It will be horrible if I have to have him put down but I will if I need to end his suffering. I'm crossing my fingers that this season will be better. I don't think I had any incubation problems so I'm lost as to what caused all these problems.

I hope that maybe he will pull through for you.

Unfortunately, just not all of them are meant to make it.

And I understand that. Still want to give him a chance though. I'm leaving now with him. If they find that his digestive tract isn't fully developed or he has no ability to swallow his food, then I will make plans to have him put down.