Opinion Needed

[derrabe]

This is a what would you do type question. I have a hatching from my first clutch that refuses to eat on her own. She unfortunately is the prettiest yellow belly i have hatched to this date. I was going to keep her as a hold back but the only way she eats is being forces feed and wont take anything larger then a pinkie mouse. There are no physical problems that i can see (kinks , bad jaw etc.) I have tried many different types of food etc. She will swallow the food if you get the head started down the throat, but refuses to strike and has to have her mouth opened, she wont open it for food without assistance. She does strike just fine though at my wife LOL. Any way here is the dilemma she is now like 3 months old and not getting the eating to survive thing. So options below

1. So there is a show tomorrow and I was thinking about trying to sell her at a really reduced rate like $75 in hopes that maybe a change of environment would help, or a more experienced breeder would have better luck.

2. Keep force feeding her till some day she hopefully gets it, and keep her like i was originally planning.

3. Other options

[cinderbird]

i had a nonfeeder that i had to FORCE feed on several occasions before she caught onto the idea that food tastes good.

What is her set up like? are you pre-scenting? have you offered live, etc?

[coldbloodaddict]

Over these past 3 months you should have increased the size of the prey item you are assist feeding and not stayed with just pinks this whole time...

I would start offering the appropriate size prey...How much does she weigh.

[cinderbird]

i didnt even read pinky mouse. Jeez, you need to bump her up to something larger. Most bps wont even recognize pinky mice as food because they are too small.

Have you tried live hoppers, etc?

[PythonsbyParris]

Live hopper mice and just put the hopper in the mouth until it is stuck not all the way to the throat. She will get it. I have had slow feeders before and the last one is one of my best eaters from that clutch now. Some are just slow to get it but they do. pinky mice are too small even for a small hatchling.

[derrabe]

Apparently, the statement she wont take anything larger was missed. I have tried rat pinks and older mice. I have prescented and I have tried live and f/t and fresh killed. She is in my hatchling rack and the temps are 90 on the warm side and 78-80 on the cooler side. I wasn't really asking advise on how to get her to eat, if i try anything bigger then a pinkie mouse she spits it back out. I haven't weighed her recently but she hasnt gained much if any weight since hatching. I just want to know if you would sell her and take it as a loss or if you would be presistant and keep trying to get her to take a meal, or do something else?

[FireStorm]

I had a baby that I had to assist feed for quite a while (close to 6 mos I think). She eats great now...

I used rat pinks, though. If you start the prey in her mouth and work it far enough down, she won't be able to spit it out and you can get her to eat something bigger. You're probably going to have to get her to gain weight before she figures out how to eat on her own.

If you decide not to keep her, the best idea would probably be to give her to an experienced keeper. Finding someone who's willing to buy her and has the experience to get her started may be difficult...

[coldbloodaddict]

Apparently, the statement she wont take anything larger was missed.

If you're force feeding her, you pick the prey size, not her...

[derrabe]

I found an alternative solution, a close friend and snake mentor of mine has agreed to take in my non-eater for a month to try to get her eating for me

[dr del]

Hi,

I have a little normal female here I have been assisting as needed for just over a year.

I had got her to strike feed 4 times in July then she stopped again and I was seriously thinking of just giving up on her.

But she struck and ate a huge ( for her as shes only around 150g ) rat two weeks or so ago, went into a shed and struck fed on another rat ( more appropriately sized ) just three days ago.

The point of all this rambling being....

It can take a while for them to start, but if you really want to keep her then keep her. You can change her substrate and tub size etc if you want to try that rather than just sell her and hope it helps.

Just remember if you do sell her then the buyer will have to deal with the problems and may be unhappy about it and pass his feedback on to others. He may forget to mention he bought her cheaply as a non-feeder however.


dr del