Assist feeding

[RPlank]

Well, I performed my first "assist feed" tonight. I traded an adult female BP for a subadult female BP I found in the local reptile store last week whose color and pattern I like better than my adult. She had an RI, and is very skinny. I can see her ribs. I let her settle in for a week, got her RI cleared up, and have been offering her a meal for a few days now. She does not act even remotely interested. Live, dead, doesn't matter--no interest. I decided that if I want her to live, I'm gonna have to get her to eat.
So, I whacked a rat, made sure it was good and dead, and held my BP securely, hoping I wouldn't get bit. I slowly pushed the rats nose between her upper and lower jaws, and she bit down. When I let go of her head, she constricted. I put her away, and she finished the meal on her own! I was really happy I didn't have to shove it down her throat! She just needed to taste it, I guess, to decide she wanted it.
Damn finicky female!
Maybe I'll name her "Princess!"

[BallKingdom]

Force feeding is not easy, it is very hard to get even the smallest rodents down a bp's mouth if they don't want it. I had a female that rufused food, so I put a mouse into it's mouth like you did, and it got hooked to one of it's teeth and wouldn't come off. So after a while she decided she might as well eat it, and she did.

Good luck with that one!

[Sassafrass]

Damn finicky female!
Maybe I'll name her "Princess!"

Hmph. Sounds like my daugher. Once I can FINALLY get her to try something new...she usually loves it. lol

Maybe you should name her Hanna.

[IMO]

I had to assist feed a couple of times, a very young ball python. But after a couple of times it wouldn't take it even after getting it into its mouth. It wouldn't constrict as it had done before and would just release the mouse. I contacted the seller and got good advice. Here's what they said. Use a small container or box to feed in, one that will not allow the snake to get too far away from the mouse. Put the mouse in and observe if live, if pre-killed then just leave alone and cover and turn off lights. You can leave the pre-killed in overnight. If live feeder then check every 15 minutes for about an hour. If the snake has not eaten after an hour then return the snake to its cage and wait 5 days and try again. This worked for mine after the first try in the box. Don't try to feed it every day. This will only stress out the snake. Have patience. Snakes may not feed on demand like our dogs and cats.

[BallKingdom]

Right now Monty is not feeding. But he's not getting any skinnier. I'm not worried yet. I got a nice precision for him where he can relax and eat on his own time. I tried forcing him, even got it all the way down about 2 inches, he got it out. He'll start eating when he sees fit. I just gotta be patient.