Took my baby girl to the vet today...

[Anatopism]

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who's replied to this thread so far. I really do appreciate all of your suggestions. I'm sure Ajja does too, since every rookie mistake you guys help me avoid is one more thing that she won't have to put up with.

I'll be picking up hoppers this afternoon. I've been offering her F/T, on the assumption that she was eating before. At this point, I'm going to assume she hasn't eaten at all, so if I can find live, I'll pick one up. If not, I'll just get frozen and brain one. If that's the case, I guess we'll find out how good I am at the zombie mouse dance. I would prefer to feed her F/T, but it's not really about what I want, and I completely agree that getting her to eat at ALL is the priority. Hell, if the only thing I can get her to take is a three legged mole rat with bad eyesight, I'll make it happen.

Annarose - Yep, Frontline. The one for puppies and kittens. I thought it was a little odd too. I did some research before using it, and it turns out it's not uncommon. The vet I took her to was Dr. Thomas Boyer, DVM. He's one of the two vets who founded ARAV, so I feel pretty safe following his recommendations. Still, I've been keeping a pretty close eye on her since I treated her. It's probably still too early to tell how effective it's going to be, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I'll let you know about the results.

I was wondering the same thing on Frontline, since it works in a unique way with mammals, and I'm not sure how it interacts with a snake's body specifically. From doing some reading, it does seem that some people use it, and I haven't found anything stating negative effects either. Good to know about ARAV though, and sounds like you're doing some good research.

A hopper is definitely not too large for your snake, If you can't find a live hopper mouse, see if you can find a barely larger than fuzzy rat (just before their eyes open, but they can still awkwardly crawl around). If you think hoppers are too large, you'll definitely think the fuzzy rats are too large, but most of our hatchlings start out on fuzzy rats, and most of our hatchlings range from 65-80 grams. We'll use a rat pink for the extra tiny ones. They are attracted not only to the smell (some prefer either mice or rats to start with as hatchlings), but if the movement isn't just right, some might refuse whatever you stick in there. Mice/rats that are too tiny, just kind of lay there, and while some snakes will still take them, a lot of our hatchlings refuse unless the rodent wobbles just the right way. Depending on your area (check craigslist too), you may have an easier time of finding rats or mice of various sizes. Don't offer food until it starts getting dark, gently place the appropriate meal with them, then close the tub, and leave it alone for a few moments to see if it's interested.