We have a hatchling we have been unable to get eating. Way below i've outlined what we've tried as i'm sure people will be interested to know, considering how serious the question is. Assist feeding does not work, and we have now force fed twice. I will provide more details below of everything we have done for clarity, but please know that this was NOT done lightly and was an absolute last resort.

My question is, at what point do you give up on a hatchling? Or do you stick to it and they eventually get there?

This is the first time one of our snakes has shown no interest whatsoever. The breeder who mentored us said that snakes like that aren't meant to be, but he can be a bit 'bottom line' about breeding and not quite on the same page as us there... We want to keep trying and not give up, but we're also not sure when it's time to say we're just prolonging the inevitable... :-(

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Below I've outlined husbandry and details of what we've tried, as well as a note about how force feeding should not be done unless the situation is dire.

We've had to assist feed babies before, but they always start taking food after one feeding, twice at the very most. We had been taught how to force feed when we were taught assist feeding, but we have never had to do it until recently. We did not force feed lightly and did it is a last resort, just to try and prevent further weight loss. The hatchling was 2 months old when we first tried to assist feed, and had been losing weight regularly. They had lost 13% of their body weight. They were very thin with an pronounced ridge back and visibly sagging skin. We have a sterilized area and large sterilized tweezers that we solely use for this purpose. We have had to do this before (originally supervised and taught by our mentor). To reiterate this for anyone who may read this in future, it is the absolute last resort and should only be done by a vet or if you have been taught by someone how to do so. It is NOT something you do if your snake (especially one who has eaten before) is just refusing a few meals.

If you want to know what we've tried and husbandry. I've outlined it all below. Everything done below was done before we even attempted to assist feed. Also, while this may sound like a lot, it has been done over the course of almost 3 months now (2 months till we tried assist). We have been sure not to bug the hatchling or handle them excessively (we haven't even sexed them yet). Temps are 88-90 on the warm side, 78-80 cool side, ambient air temp at 80-84, humidity at 75-80%. We use a rack system in a dark, quiet room of the house. Most hatchlings we have no issues getting to eat.

Done before Assist/Force Feed. Some done multiple times.:
- live fuzzy
- f/t asf
- hair dryer
- braining
- chicken soup scented
- bedding change (paper towels to coconut mulch)
- leaving in f/t overnight
- defrosted with rats (scenting)
- in their own room (so not even being bugged when we check on our other snakes)
- different hide sizes (all appropriately sizes, though some just slightly smaller/shorter than others)
- different enclosure (smaller)
- putting in very small enclosure (paper bag) with live fuzzy
- feedings were attempted at different times of day (from early AM to getting up in middle of the night)

Again, we've never had this much difficulty getting a hatchling to eat. We have offered live and f/t since force feeding and no interest whatsoever and we're getting very nervous about him/her.