Might be time for a pinky pump

Well there has been no luck with the hatchling since he hatched of getting any food into him. I have tried live feeding and assist feeding. The most recent assist feed left him with 24hrs of having a mouse pinky in his throat. While his body had started to digest the pinky (the top half), he spit it out. Now, I'm not a squeamish person and since I have no access to a real pinky pump, would it be possible to take a mouse and blend it really finely (puree is a good word here) and use a syringe to get it into his stomach? That way I can just blend up an entire mouse and freeze and thaw it as needed. If this little baby has any chance at survival, I want to try.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

Well there has been no luck with the hatchling since he hatched of getting any food into him. I have tried live feeding and assist feeding. The most recent assist feed left him with 24hrs of having a mouse pinky in his throat. While his body had started to digest the pinky (the top half), he spit it out. Now, I'm not a squeamish person and since I have no access to a real pinky pump, would it be possible to take a mouse and blend it really finely (puree is a good word here) and use a syringe to get it into his stomach? That way I can just blend up an entire mouse and freeze and thaw it as needed. If this little baby has any chance at survival, I want to try.

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im sorry u have to go through this man. youl fig somthing out eventually.
i reccomend purred pinky from a sirringe(sp?) make sure its a thawed mouse. no blending lvie...

I'm sorry but that reminded me of joe cartoon with the gerbil.

Don't worry, no live blending. :P I think this is the only way I'm going to get anything down him at this point. If I can just get him large enough to be able to pass a pinky down that one spot in his throat. Its a spot that seems thinner than the rest. I'll go get a picture of his underside so you can see what I'm talking about.

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

I'm sorry but that reminded me of joe cartoon with the gerbil.

Don't worry, no live blending. :P I think this is the only way I'm going to get anything down him at this point. If I can just get him large enough to be able to pass a pinky down that one spot in his throat. Its a spot that seems thinner than the rest. I'll go get a picture of his underside so you can see what I'm talking about.

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k.

and joe cartoon is so funny! my fav is "10 pump bb gun!"

We are going to try something. We have a syringe and some 16g tubing. We are thinking about pre-killing some pinks and pureeing them as best we can, add a little egg yolk (chicken egg) and using the syringe to pass this into his stomach. So I guess my questions are....

1) Is that too small of tubing or should we get a larger size?

2) How will we know when we reach the stomach?

3) How much do we pump into his stomach?

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Originally Posted by Jay_Bunny

We are going to try something. We have a syringe and some 16g tubing. We are thinking about pre-killing some pinks and pureeing them as best we can, add a little egg yolk (chicken egg) and using the syringe to pass this into his stomach. So I guess my questions are....

1) Is that too small of tubing or should we get a larger size?

2) How will we know when we reach the stomach?

3) How much do we pump into his stomach?

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well the truth is i dont really know... ask someone who has knolege of snake anatomy lol. sry

I am unable to puree only one or two pinkies at a time. A blender can't do the job and just mincing them up doesn't make it small enough to go through a tube that small.

Would giving him some yolk via tube feeding help him at all?

I found a link to this picture in another thread. Hope it helps...

As for the blender not being feasible, you may have to look at something like one of those Magic Bullet, Slap Chop, or possibly a regular food processor...


Rob

http://www.southernxreptiles.com/Rep...%20anatomy.jpg

Another member on this forum had a problem with a non-eater but this was because of a kink. He has a video on this page showing how he does it. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t=96598&page=4 He would likely be willing to answer your questions, you might try and PM him.

Thanks for the link. We tried a smaller tube and used egg yolk. We got a little bit down him. He has lost weight and he's looking a little dehydrated. (skin starting to fold) :( We only gave him a little. How often should I feed him?

I would not recommend a pinkie pump if you are unable to assist your snake (snake will not swallow the prey) then you will need to force feed your snake, while force feeding is stressful it will still be a better option than a pinkie pump.

If that makes you feel better I had a very small hatchling that refused to eat on her own last season, would not make any effort to swallow the prey when assisted I had to force feed the first meal and assist afterward, now she is one of the most aggressive feeder I have ever seen.

If you have no experience force feeding I would recommend to find someone knowledgeable near you that can help you.

Jay,
From readin the post, I would try a pinkie pump for a while, or some egg yolks. However, he may not be able to eat ever. With that being a possibility, I would hate to see ou nurse him back to health, and have to put him down because he can never eat on his own. It is a tough call, but only you can make it. I know assist feeding a snake for 20-30 years would be a daunting task.

I wish you the best of luck,

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Originally Posted by Deborah

I would not recommend a pinkie pump if you are unable to assist your snake (snake will not swallow the prey) then you will need to force feed your snake, while force feeding is stressful it will still be a better option than a pinkie pump.

If that makes you feel better I had a very small hatchling that refused to eat on her own last season, would not make any effort to swallow the prey when assisted I had to force feed the first meal and assist afterward, now she is one of the most aggressive feeder I have ever seen.

If you have no experience force feeding I would recommend to find someone knowledgeable near you that can help you.

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I agree completely.

I am not sure if you tried this not or yet, but it may be an option. I had one female hatchling this year that simply refused to eat. She skipped her first 5 meals in total i think. What worked like a charm though was a brained hopper. I used a sharp razor knife and made an incision on top of its head and spread it open slightly with the blade of the knife. I left it outside of her hide and it was gone 20 minutes later. She ended up never eating a live meal and was on fresh kill right from the beginning and eats fine now.

Robin
H2 Exotics

Hi,

I don't think the worry is she won't eat on her own but that she might not be physically able to eat at all.

the pinky mouse sat in her throat for 24 hours. :(


dr del

Yea, and when the egg yolk went into his throat, I saw a little sitting in his throat so I went to massage it down and I felt bubbles, as if it couldn't pass into his stomach. I could have an xray done to see if his digestive tract is even able to pass anything down, but x rays cost a lot of money. :( I'm going to give him a few days rest, keep him hydrated and attempt a pinky pump on Monday or Tuesday. I will attempt a tube feeding or pinky pump feeding 2-3 times a week and if he doesn't start gaining weight, then we know its not working and I will put him down.

But if he does start gaining weight, we know something is getting through and we can try and get him large enough to start eating whole prey items. We can at least try. I chose to breed my snakes and I brought this snake into the world (with the help of two of my snakes) and I have to give him a chance. I have to fight for him. He's trying to eat. He's making the effort. If he's at least trying to live, I have to do everything I can for him.