OMG... thought I'd killed her!!

Last night I had a rather scary incident, involving my little "boob egg" who hatched out in early October - named her Bobbi the Boobie, LOL. She was only 39g at hatching, and since then has been slowly getting the idea that eating is good. Prior to this week she had taken a total of 4 live pinky mice, and refused anything bigger and/or frozen that was offered. A few weeks ago I weighed her, and she had actually lost 4g dropping to just 35g!

So last night I decided to offer a fuzzy instead of a pinkie, and thought I'd eyeballed a good size for her. I dropped it in her tub and left the room for a while, since she prefers to eat alone in the dark... when I came back (maybe 20 minutes later?) to check on her, I found her in a contorted position & completely STILL with half of the rat down her throat. She looked almost blue, oddly contorted, and didn't move when I poked her a few times. For those few scary minutes, I honestly thought the poor thing had suffocated herself to death. :(

Thankfully with a few more prods, she gave me a movement so I knew she was alive - and then proceeded to slowly swallow the fuzzy, butt first. I was terrified watching the whole thing, since it really looked WAY too big for her! I took some photos of the whole feeding (once I knew she was okay), and would appreciate opinions on the size of this prey. Of course, it didn't help that she took it backwards. :rolleyes:

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1898.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1903.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1909.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1913.jpg

Note how her chin looks kinda saggy? It looked like that even after adjusting her jaw, which is why I think this was too big of a meal...
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1924.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1925.jpg

At least she'll get some weight on her now!
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1929.jpg

She does look very skinny. Its a good thing she is eating for you.

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Originally Posted by jball1125

She does look very skinny. Its a good thing she is eating for you.

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Yes, she is extremely skinny - or was before this meal, which is why I'm happy she took the fuzzy! Hopefully this will give her some weight, and next time I offer it won't be such a stretch.

P.S. Even before this meal, she did have good energy and tone... so despite her small size and feeding issues, she seems pretty healthy otherwise.

Awwww! She is such a little cutie!

Hahaha she has a cute face. I would just keep feeding her pinkies until she gets a little bigger. Get her into the phase of knowing how to eat i guess... but without struggle (a bigger meal)

Maybe slightly too big but not by much.. If she was a healthy size and weight, a rodent that large in comparison to her size as it looks in those pics would be fine for a baby. For one in a weakened condition, it's ever so slightly too big.

Aw, she's so little! She's adorable! I just wanna snuggle your baby snake....
I'm glad she's eating for you!

Thanks all... and yes, she is a cutie-pie! :) Guess I'll see how she looks after this meal's digested, and try to offer a slightly smaller one next time... the problem is that my rats (small 1.3 colony) seem to be on the same breeding cycle right now, so I either have NO pinkies or a whole bunch. Guess it's time to fix that situation, maybe by separating one girl & reintroducing her 1-2 weeks after the others give birth?

P.S. Here are two more (non-feeding) pics of her, so you get an idea of how small she is... very sweet temperament, too. And fyi, my hands aren't big at all!

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1745.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1740.jpg

She has a ridiculously cute face. :love:

OMG she is just the cutest little thing!! :aww: I personally don't think the fuzzy was too big, a couple more of those and I'm sure she'll put on weight better than on pinkies.

She's so adorable!!!! :love: It doesn't look too big by much. Try pinkies again. But if she wants fuzzies instead, so long as you stick to small ones she should be okay IMO. So cute. :3

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...4/IMG_1740.jpg

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THAT EYE! <3 So adorable.

I think you can offer her exactly the same size next time, without issue. They grow VERY fast at that age, and the nutrition she got from that fuzzy will give her the extra boost to take the next one even more easily.
It didn't look too large at all, to me. The snake is simply skinny, so the bulge is bigger than it would normally be.
The sagging skin under the jaw is normal after taking a correctly-sized meal, and she'll take a few hours to adjust her jaw and get it back into proper position.
I would definitely put her on a 5 day schedule, with fuzzies that size, and I think you'll see her growth rate accelerate very quickly.

I hatched several babies her size this year--I start them on mouse fuzzies, and then move them up to mouse hoppers, and then rat fuzzes. All of them are taking hoppers or fuzzy rats now. (The youngest hatched in late August).

Omg those big eyes are too cute!!!! I think the fuzzy was a good choice. She probably had more trouble because she took it backwards rather than the actual size of the meal. I'd say you can offer her that size or just a bit smaller and it would help her catch up. I wouldnt go any bigger though. Keep us updated on the little cutie!

Oh, she is just so cuuuuuute!!

I agree, that meal wasn't too big, it just seemed that way because she's so skinny. She should do just fine on that one, and the next one will be easier for her.

Gale

Awe! She's so tiny!!! I want her!!!

Well I'm not adding anything new to the thread except to add that I, too, do not think the meal was too big for her.

Oh, and that she IS adorable!

I appreciate all of the responses, and Bobbi appreciates the compliments too... I think it's her big eyes, in relation to that teeny-tiny head, which makes her so darned cute! :D I simply adore her, so it's a good thing she's finally getting the idea of rodent = yummy food. Guess I was just being a paranoid momma, and need to trust she won't attempt if it's too big. Right? Thanks again!

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Originally Posted by somethingdecent

Awe! She's so tiny!!! I want her!!!

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Sorry, but she's all mine!! :P Just watch, she'll end up being the fattest girl in my collection... LOL.

She's a cute one. Then again, they're all cute!

Yeah 5 day schedule more fuzzies.. and ok school girl moment awww so cute! ok got that out my system :)

FYI: She's doing fine after her big meal, and basically hasn't moved much since then. :D I'll weigh her in a few days, and hope to see a noticeable increase!

She is so itty bitty I adore her!

In pic. 4 you can really see the weight loss, regardless that is one cute baby you got there...Fatten her/him up, and let's see some pics of her/him again...

Update: Bobbi is doing fine, and has eaten one meal and shed (also pooped) since the last post... unfortunately the fuzzies were full-blown hoppers by the next feeding date, so I offered 2 pinks instead, and she ate one of them. Since she shed about 3 days later, that probably explains the slight drop in appetite. It was actually a bad shed (as was her first & only other one so far), but I was able to help her complete it with a wet paper towel. I'll try feeding her again in a couple of days, but it seems she has the idea now! Still skinny, but otherwise healthy and active. :)

P.S. I'll post an updated weight & more photos on a new thread, once she has some noticeable added weight on her.

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Originally Posted by GlassPython

In pic. 4 you can really see the weight loss, regardless that is one cute baby you got there...Fatten her/him up, and let's see some pics of her/him again...

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FYI, I am pretty sure she's a girl, but didn't want to press too hard (due to her tiny size) when I popped her... so that's more of an "educated guess," based on not seeing any hemipenes with a soft pop. ;)

I am glad she's doing well! Eating and shedding and everything...! I hope she ends up the biggest one of your bunch. :P