Force feeding worries

[herpstitch]

Helloo!

I work at a exotics store/breeder and I normally work with their lizards and sometimes in-verts but not the snakes.

But today they had a problem with a recent BP hatchling and nobody wanted to bother to force/assist feed it. The hatchling is 20 gram and really slow and hasn't shed but they said they need to get some food in it because the size. It wouldn't strike and had no desire for food apparently. I Googled this and found out about force/assist feeding so I tried this but it wouldn't take the pinkie. So I cut the pinkie into about 6 even ish parts and put one in the BP's mouth.

The BP wouldn't swallow so I used one fork of the tong to push it a little, just to the opening of the throat. It still wouldn't swallow so I gently rubbed the food along with my thumb tip and did that for all the pieces. I told a superior and got told off but it's been most of my shift and it hasn't vomited up the mouse so is it OK? Or did I hurt it and will it die? TY and sorry for bad English

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[nikkubus]

My experience has been that with BP hatchlings that tiny, force feeding is likely to cause a lot of damage no matter how gentle you are, while starvation is also a very likely scenario. I don't think there is a "right" answer to this. If you can get them to swallow on their own with a very small prey item (a leg or tail piece of an adult sometimes works better than a pinky depending on size) you increase chance for success greatly. Size is key for assist feeding stubborn, scared hatchlings. You want something small enough that it is hard to spit out. Sometimes they are determined and manage to spit it out no matter what size it is, and nature is just going to take its course sadly.

[Bogertophis]

Your English is just fine. I know some others here have resorted to force feeding, but I'm personally not a fan of doing that (I prefer to "tube-feed"). Even so, I don't think you hurt the snake, & I don't think it will die from what you did, though no telling if it's actually sick or just stressed (which is pretty normal in a pet store, & BPs are not the easiest snakes to feed sometimes) so I don't care to predict this snake's future- especially since I'm not actually seeing it either.

But just so you know, a pinkie (mouse? or rat pink?) isn't enough food for a hatchling BP- they typically start on a hopper mouse, so while it's good you got some food into this snake, it's not going to do a great deal for it in the long run. It will need much more than this, & force-feeding is very stressful for the snake, & "unnatural" because prey animals don't normally approach (much less force their way into!) a snake- see? And BPs are rather shy & docile snakes, so a force-feed works against them being bold enough to grab food. If you like, I'll pm you the method I use, but in your position, I doubt you'll be allowed to do that either- & in any case, it's too soon to try it- keep reading.

The best way takes the longest- that is, to encourage the snake's natural instincts to feed on it's own. And first off, snakes usually instinctively refuse ALL food when they're in shed- for good reason- both shedding and digestion requires good hydration from the snake's body. This hatchling may be unable to do both at the same time, & shouldn't be forced to do so: What can happen if a snake tries to digest AND shed at the same time is that they get stuck in their shed! And that goes not only for hatchlings but all snakes. Trust me, that's a set-back for the snake, & no fun having to help them shed.

Better this snake waits to eat until AFTER he sheds. In the meantime, make sure he's hydrated by keeping his humidity up (to about 65-75% in his enclosure by using moist substrates, misting &/or furnishing a "humid-hide") and encouraging him to drink water. Then, once he fully sheds, he just may surprise you and actually WANT to eat- I hope so! But snakes normally do NOT want to eat when in shed, not even skinny ones.

And don't handle snakes at all if you can help it, until AFTER they're eating on their own, for best results- human handling interferes with their instincts to grab mice- mostly because they're intimidated. See, the only thing that normally picks up a snake in the wild is a predator that's about to eat THEM. So handling scares them, & takes their focus off of eating-at least until they learn more. Okay? By the way- Welcome!

[EL-Ziggy]

To each their own, and I don’t mean to sound cruel, but I refuse to force feed any animal. If it can’t or won’t eat on it’s own then it shouldn’t be in the gene pool imho. I can understand assist or tube feeding a hatchling a few times but not much more than that.

[bcr229]

I don't like assist feeding pinkies (whether mice or rat, depending on neonate size) because they're basically just squishy bags of water, and trying to force one down a snake's throat makes a gross mess. Instead, when I assist feed I start with something like the hind leg cut off of a f/t mouse or rat, followed by a whole prey feeder of appropriate size unless the snake is so tiny that the hind leg is a good sized meal on its own. Otherwise, the hind leg should be sized so it's a decent mouthful for the snake.


Have the warmed hind leg and whole prey f/t feeder ready to go. Grasp the snake's head with your thumb and forefinger just behind its eyes, but gently around the jaw so that it can still open it's mouth. The snake's neck should be supported by your other fingers.


Take the hind leg and fold it at the hock joint. Insert the folded end of the hind leg into the snake's mouth. This is easier than using a whole feeder because the long leg bone is perfect for prying the snake's mouth open. Push the hind leg back as far as you can.


The hind leg is very hard for the snake to eject since it will unfold and often gets caught behind the snake's teeth when the snake opens its mouth to spit it out. The snake will likely try to run away while attempting to spit out the hind leg. That's fine, just let it run through your hands.


When the snake stops running and starts swallowing the hind leg, quickly sneak the nose of the whole prey feeder into the snake's mouth so it follows the hind leg down the hatch. You may have to support or push on the feeder a bit but the snake should grab and swallow the feeder once the leg moves down the snake's throat a bit.


Don't get discouraged if the snake manages to just eat the hind leg on your first few attempts. A small meal is better than no meal. Also wait 7-10 days between assist feedings with the absolute minimum of handling required for daily care to give the snake time to de-stress, especially if you manage to get the snake to eat a whole-prey feeder.