First Feeding

[Bogertophis]

@El Ziggy: I don't know where my snake-breeding experience compares to Malum Argenteum's (not to mention the various other snakes I've acquired one way or the other over the years) but I have to say that I've likewise seen my share of snakes that were very "challenging-to-raise", & in the wild, I assume some of these are also the ones that just don't survive. As our captives though, most of us work our butts off to help them live, so that's why I don't agree with your blanket statement that "they'll always eat"- as already noted, that is sadly NOT true. Snakes are not carbon-copies, any more than we humans are. They have individual variations (genetic & physical history) that can make them respond differently, & since they can't talk & tell us about it, their survival is in our hands.

One example: Many years ago I noticed an unusual snake- a yearling Texas longnose- in a pet store that I regularly did business with (supplying rodents etc). It was in an out-of-the-way tank & it turned out they'd had it for some months; it hid all the time, & never ate for them so obviously it wasn't selling, & was very thin- at real risk of dying. It was actually a c/b that had been raised on f/t pinkie mice when they bought it- impressed with it's attractive tri-colors (black, orange-red, & cream) & small size (nice for a pet- they were sure it would sell). But even though the breeder got it going, it was now starving despite a reasonable home & proper food offered. I had experience with our native desert Western longnose snakes- they're very difficult because mice are NOT their natural diet- small lizards or snakes are- & for this reason, they're not common pets- this was the first time I'd seen a c/b one.

I offered the mgr. a swap, a c/b young king snake that I'd produced, which ate like crazy & made a great pet for anyone, in exchange for this hapless longnose snake they couldn't sell or care for. Just to make sure, I tried offering f/t pinks as the snake had been raised on (& also tried live pinks etc etc.), but the snake just didn't feel well enough to want to eat. So I gently tube-fed the tiny snake some Gerbers chicken baby food (thinned with water), and waited. It was like a magic act: it didn't take very long for the snake to perk up, & the next time I offered f/t pinkies, he ate them, and ever since has fed for me. This snake is now 19 years old (at least one online source lists 19 years as their maximum lifespan) & has eaten multiple f/t fuzzy mice at each feeding for me all these years. (He rejects mice unless they're f/t & thawed in water- that washes off mouse odor, making them more palatable to him.) Sometimes we (snake keepers) think we know more than we do about the snakes we're keeping.

I can't be everywhere to help every snake- if only? So that's why I post here & share my experience with snakes, hoping that the more we all share what works, the more snakes we can save & appreciate. Do you really think this TX longnose would have survived with your methods? I don't. And this is why I've compared this situation with snakes to what happens (or what would happen) to humans in the hospital if they never got the energy they needed from an I.V. to fully recover. It's much the same thing. The body needs a little "pick me up" to feel good enough to have an appetite, whether that body belongs to a snake or a person. And watching a snake die from starvation isn't my idea of good snake-keeping, not if I can change the outcome. They do NOT "always eat".