We have a new little pin stripe that refuses to eat. I have now had to assist feed him twice. I let him settle in for a week then tried to feed him and he seems to have no feeding response. The breeder we got him from said he was eating on live mice hoppers (groan). But any prey item I’ve offered him (live hoppers off of tongs and dropped in the cage, live rat pinks off of tongs and dropped in the cage and f/t mice hoppers heated in boiling water) all result in the same response, he just hisses and balls up. This animal shows no sign of stress he freely explores his cage and doesn’t even hide or ball up when I have to go into his cage to clean it. Normally I wouldn’t assist feed any snake let alone a ball after only a few weeks in the house but this one is so small and thin that I’m concerned that he might starve he doesn’t get some food in him. I know that the setup is O.K because there are 2 other animals in the same rack that came from the same breeder at the same time that have both voluntarily taken 2 meals. So my question is this how often in your experience can you assist feed a small BP before the stress of the procedure does more harm than it gains from the nutrition it receives? Although as you can imagine it is quite resistant to having a prey item into its mouth if I get the prey into its throat just a little bit it voluntary swallows without any further help and bye the next day is back cruzing it’s cage with no visible signs of stress. Any input would be helpful and appreciated I haven’t had to assist feed any baby’s since I had some baby atheris born years ago and really don’t like to put a snake through it unless I think it is absolutely necessary.
Jason