Update on Hatchling

[Jay_Bunny]

I pre-scented for a few minutes and then stuck the little fuzzy in with her. She always turns away from it though. So again (like last week) I took a cardboard box (like they use at petstores to send your pet home in) and put both Rubii and the mouse in it. When I checked about an hour later, she wasn't in a ball anymore but she was facing away from the mouse. *sigh* I really wish this girl would eat. What if she keeps refusing?

[Elleken]

Force feeding if it goes on too long I would assume.

[Jay_Bunny]

Checked on her and nothing. Should I leave the fuzzy in with her overnight? It can't hurt her and the worst that could happen is it dies and I just remove it in the morning. Any ideas?

[LGL]

Maybe she's stressed from being moved from her cage to a feeding container? Why not just offer it to her in her own cage?

Also, if it's a rat fuzzy, it may not be moving enough to spark Rubii's interest. Try offering a mouse hopper and then switching her over to rats after a few meals.

[Jay_Bunny]

I'm feeding her in a smaller container because I have tried feeding her in her own tub, twice. This trick helped when I had a baby corn who was too insecure to feed in his own enclosure. I put him in a brown paper bag with the mouse pinky and he ate that way. After that he was ok to eat in his own enclosure.

Also, she is too small for a mouse hopper. I'm trying a mouse fuzzy, not a rat fuzzy. This hatchling weighs 37g. She's half the size she should be and very very tiny.

[nixer]

she might just be a real slow starter if she has not shed yet i would say she probally is do you have a weight on her.
you might have to assist feed her if she doesnt eat on her own.
i wouldnt ever force feed a bp.

[Jay_Bunny]

How would I assist feed her? She's 37g.

[LGL]

I'm feeding her in a smaller container because I have tried feeding her in her own tub, twice. This trick helped when I had a baby corn who was too insecure to feed in his own enclosure. I put him in a brown paper bag with the mouse pinky and he ate that way. After that he was ok to eat in his own enclosure.

Also, she is too small for a mouse hopper. I'm trying a mouse fuzzy, not a rat fuzzy. This hatchling weighs 37g. She's half the size she should be and very very tiny.

Oh, ok. That makes sense.

[Blue Apple Herps]

A month is a really long time to not shed. I've had corns (they've all been runts) who didn't shed. For whatever reason they didn't even though their bodies were ready to. They usually have a wrinkly and dull look to them. For them what I did was to soak them in a deli cup with wet warm paper towels for 30 min or so and then gently peel the skin off them.

So something like that may be in order. What size tank/tub are you keeping her in right now? Last year I started mine in 6 qt tubs, but I had one hold out feeding. I switched her to a small zip-loc storage container to live in. She started eating right away. I kept her in that for about 6 feedings before I moved her over to the 6 qt, she was fine after that.

So while the paper bag trick is good, she may need to be somewhere smaller all the time, and then be fed in her cage and avoid stress of moving.

Also, have you only tried mice? Try a rat pink instead. Or if you have access to ASF, try that.

You still have lots of options and lots of time before its panic time.

[Jay_Bunny]

She is in a 16qt in the main rack. I know that is too big. I wasn't able to get a hatchling rack like I needed because we hit a financial snag halfway through incubation (husband lost job). Now we are just waiting till he gets his paycheck and I'll be ordering a hatchling rack.

I haven't tried anything but mice since she's so small. I don't have access to anything but mice and rats. She doesn't even look like she's ready to shed yet. She's still shiny.

So I could try moving her to a smaller container, but I don't have anything smaller.