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  1. #21
    BPnet Lifer Bogertophis's Avatar
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    I'm not a fan of force-feeding (in part, because it can cause or reinforce the snake's fear of the prey by association), but it's truly essential that one way or another, you get some food into this snake & keep on doing so.

    One way to think about it is this: when a person is in the hospital, too sick to eat, they're given nutritional support in the form of an I.V.- without that, they may never have the energy or feel well enough to want to eat, to get their appetite back & have their body recover.

    We can't do that (give an I.V.) for a snake- so the next best thing is easily digestible nutrition, in the form of "frequent" (every 5-7 days) small feedings of easily digested prey or in the form of a liquid diet that is tube-fed. The HOPE here is that after one or multiple feedings, that your snake's natural appetite will kick in, so always TRY to offer food (prey) naturally first, & then only if it's refused, do what you need to do to get some nutrition into him. When a snake is this underweight, be prepared for it to take a long time to get his weight up to where it should be. There's no telling how long it will take before he eats willingly, but we're all crossing our fingers for you (& him) that it's sooner rather than later.

    BTW, I'd probably wait a day or 2 to switch out the hides- just to make sure that the disruption doesn't stress him into regurgitating his food. I would expect his digestion may take longer than it would for a more healthy snake- just because a snake that isn't eating isn't making a surplus of digestive enzymes that are essential to get the job done easily. Getting him healthy & strong again will take time & be a slow process.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 08-27-2021 at 06:57 PM.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

    “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ~ Gandhi

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