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J

JohnR

Nikon & Mac user
The butter at his food quick! :eek::crazy02: I was happy to see that. But the motley is being a bit finicky. I put her in a dark area so that she doesn't get distracted.

Both were offered thawed pinkies. I heated up the water for the motley one's pinky so that it would help, hopefully.

If the motley doesn't eat, what should I do? Wait? And if so, how long maximum should I give her before I should alert the seller as to feeding problems?
 
Are you saying you're trying to feed her right now? Heat (or reheat) the pink to VERY hot- 103F- cut some shallow slits in its back, put it in the feeding container and cover the container, and do NOT peek for at least an hour. If, after an hour, she hasn't eaten it, I'd reheat again and put the whole container in her viv, covered, in the middle heat zone, and leave overnight without disturbing. If she doesn't eat, I would try again in 4-5 days.

I had a Miss Picky last night, a usually easy feeder. I reheated her fuzzy, and even stirred the brains around a little with the tip of my tiny scissors, put it back in the feeding container, covered her up and didn't look for an hour. Gone.
 
Yup, trying to feed her right now. Ahh, didn't know how hot to get the pink.

So if she doesn't eat tonight, then toss the pink?
 
If you leave it with her overnight, then toss it. I wouldn't refreeze a pink, I guess. Not worth it for 50 cents or whatever they cost. Although it does bother me to waste it. Which is why you need a kingsnake now, for a garbage disposal.

I'd get the pink as hot as your tapwater can go.
 
Yes! She finally ate. I had heated it up really hot and sliced open the back and head and left her with it in the small plastic container inside her cage under newspaper and now 3 hours later it's gone. :D
 
congrats...now you know what to do!! I have one that is timid right now and refuses to eat while I'm in the room. Just have to figure out what works for you.
 
Some snakes especially hatchlings and juveniles are extremely picky. I had one that would only eat if I removed the head of the pink. She would eat the head then the rest. She grew out of it in about three months.

There are 1000 different tricks you can do to get stubborn feeders to eat and I think at one time or another I have tried 998 of them. :rofl:
 
I was ashamed to come back and post this, but the next day my son had gotten her out and was holding her when I got home. I told him to put her back that she might regurgitate her food.

Sure enough, when we looked in on her later, she had regurgitated her food. :(

Trying again tonight to feed her.
 
No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now you need to do the regurgitation protocol. Do not feed for eight days. This gives her time to rebuild the flora in her stomach that she needs to digest. The next meal should be half the size of the meal she regurged. I'd give her half a pink. They are easy to snip in half with a nail scissors after thawing. You should go to Kathy Love's website and order a bottle of Nutribac, which is reptile probiotics, which is the good bacteria she needs to re-establish. You can either put it in her water, and change the water every day, and/or sprinkle it on the pink you feed her.

One regurge is not the end of the world, but once you have a repeat the chances of your snake dying increase greatly. Do not treat this matter lightly.

After her first post-regurge meal, build back up slowly to the size prey she regurged. For you, this may mean feeding half pinks for a while. Kathy actually advised me to feed pinks cut in half lengthwise, which I did for the first four meals. They are best cut before thawing, with a cleaver, and then thawed in plastic wrap. Even when I got the snake worked back up to his normal size meal, I still cut the pinks in thirds for a while and fed all three pieces, then weaned him down to two halves instead of three thirds. I didn't switch him to whole mice again until after the experience of cutting a fuzzy in half, and even now, I deeply slit everything he eats. And I continue to put Nutribac on every meal for him.

Good luck.
 
Well, unfortunately I didn't get this message until this morning. I had put her in a container with a pinkie and now it's too late. She ate it. I'll keep a watch on her.

So, what happens now? Will she be ok with this inside her?
 
As long as she keeps it down, I'd still feed reduced size meals and be very cautious with her for 2-3 months. If she doesn't keep it down, then wait the eight days. It wouldn't hurt and would probably help to obtain Nutribac for further feedings for a while. I'd _bet_ she keeps it down, but give her three whole days with no handling and no disturbance whatsoever.

Another thing I didn't mention was that after I had a baby regurge, ALL the babies got put on a three day wait to handle instead of the more customary two. But I'm very cautious with them- I've read way too many stories here of babies that get started regurging and can't be stopped. If you can't bear to not handle a snake for that long (who can?) then just alternate feeding days with your two.
 
Oh yeah, she's on a strict no handling until the lump is gone or until Sunday, whichever comes first.

The Butter is an older one (not sure the age of either, but I would say the Motley was a very new hatchling) so he's doing fine.

We'll order that Nutribac. Thanks!
 
Oh yeah, she's on a strict no handling until the lump is gone or until Sunday, whichever comes first.

The Butter is an older one (not sure the age of either, but I would say the Motley was a very new hatchling) so he's doing fine.

We'll order that Nutribac. Thanks!
 
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