• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Another trick for non-feeders...

carol

carol

Down with the sickness
Insiders Club
Today, I remembered an old trick that I had completly forgotten about. My tiniest runt shed today and I decided to offer it a pinky head. I had offered a pinky head out of the egg and it refused. I was a bit worried a pinky head would be too big (yes it is THAT small) so I defrosted a whole pink so I could crush the skull before cutting the head off to cut down on mess. After having sucess with the runt (it ate!). I tried to decide what to do with the body. On a whim I threw it in with a hatching that has refused f/t heads, f/t headless bodies, and live pinks. Within an hour the body was devoured. I defrosted more pinks, cut thier heads off after being thawed and put both head and body in with 8 other non-feeders. So far 2 of the 8 have eaten! These ones have also refused heads, bodys, and live. It reminded me of a trick that I have not seen mentioned in awhile. The advice was to put the pinkys in a plastic sandwich bag before placing them in water to defrost. That way the water does not dilute the "pinky smell". It works even better to do pinky heads this way, or as I found, cut the head off after defrosting. You could always give the body to a hatchling that is feeding. I wish I had tried it sooner!
 
I will give it a try! I have several non-feeders this year. The hatchlings from the second clutch were just SO tiny. Anyway, I'll let you know in a couple of days if I have any success or not.
 
I was referring to the feeding them a headless body...

But sometimes people just drop the mice directly into the warm water. I actually have done it when I've been out of ziploc bags. For the most part, it seems to work just as well.
 
Yep I just drop my pinkes directly in to the water but I rub them on some older (and smellier) mice before feeding. I don't know if it actually helps, but I figure some scent is transferred from the adult mice to the pinkies.
 
Excellent advice Carol

I have always defrosted the pinks in a baggie and they are nicely scented:D The only ones I defrost directly in the water are the ones I'm going to rub on the Lizard. At that point they are not eating anything that smells like a mouse so I want the mouse smell gone. I've always removed the head before defrosting so I'll try your way next time. Out of the 19 that just hatched a lttle over a week ago 17 ate. I have just 2 little hold outs!! I'll try a head next time and see if that tempts them:)
 
Well...

I got two more of my little ones to eat. They ate the headless bodies.

I keep seeing all of these posts on non-feeding babies, but I have not found one that says exactly when to start worrying. Or when to start assisting them to eat. I have 3 non-feeders that were born last month (6-18 and 2 on 6-20). They have been assist-fed. They still won't eat on their own, though. I'll just keep working with them.

The others that have fed were all hatched between 7-8 and 7-15. There are 8 (out of 18 that hatched) that still haven't fed. I am beginning to think it is mainly because they are such TINY babies. I bet some of them only weigh 2-3 grams! I'll have to weigh them soon to see. I was wondering when I should try to assist feed them. It's been 2 and 1/2 weeks since the first one hatched.

Edited:
I finally found one post that says a baby can go for about 4 weeks without eating. These guys are so tiny. I am afraid to wait that long.
 
Thanks Carol

I have only one non-feeder hatchling that hasn't eaten since hatching. Almost seven weeks now. Today I tried a pinky head and it refused it. I put the body in as a last try and the hatchling took it.
Thanks for the advice.
I guess it will be headless pinkies for this one for a while.
 
Arn't these guys too funny? They make no sense. :rolleyes: It doesn't always work, but it did work on at least two over here. I know how frustrating it is and just about anything is worth a try. Even if I just get one of the non-feeders to eat, it is a big victory for me. I have an update as well... Last night I left 6 non-feeders from one clutch in paper bags each with a peice of rat tail. I went to go feed my horses and then came back to the snakes. I washed my hands but I still had some scent of beet pulp and alfalfa on my hands. The first hatchling (who did not eat thier tail) I picked up, started attacking my hand in a prey bite (not a defensive bite). He kept nudging my hand, so I touched the rat tail to his mouth and he gobbled it down. The rest of them were not so easy, I had to force feed them the tail with the exception of one more. This one actually ate the rat tail all on his own, when I opened her bag she was fat and there was no tail. So now I have 4 that have accepted food on thier own and 4 more to go from this clutch.
 
You know...I haven't tried scenting my pinkies with rats. So is that a common "trick" to get them to eat? I have some frozen rats and a live rat. Which would be best to use? And if I use the live rat, would I just use some of his bedding to scent the pinky?
 
A rat tail is a pretty good size meal for a hatchling, I'd try either or. I don't know which would be better. But if you scent using the live rat, I'd rub the pink all over him or apply some fresh urine to the pinky. I know it is gross, but back when I used to feed live, I remember some of the snakes going back and actually drinking the urine off the floor that they squeezed out of the poor mouse.
 
Just thought I'd let you know that I put about 1 1/2" of a rat tail in with one of the non-feeders and he ate it. He didn't eat it right away, but when I came home a couple of hours later, it was gone! Tomorrow I am going to try it on some others!!
 
Wow, that's a lot of rat tail. :D Congrats! Like I said before, every little one is a victory. Also, a select few will also eat if you just place the food it in thier mouth. Most will spit it out, but some will continue to swallow. LOL, I can just see our notes on these little brats..
hatchling # 1- eats heads
hatchling # 2- eats bodies
hatchling # 3- eats tails
hatchling # 4-eats brained pinks
The good thing is, once they eat something they usually get less picky with each feeding. Good Luck with the rest of yours!
 
rat tail?

I thought about feeding tail sections to a couple of my smaller hatchlings but was afraid they'd regurge. I've noticed some of my larger snakes (corns, womas, asian rats) often digest their food but pass the rat's tail, seemingly undigested. If you guys have success with this technique, I'll give it a shot. The tails often break in the freezer and I usually throw them away.
 
Two years ago out of a clutch of 16 corn's 2 wouldn't eat.I brumated them like the rest.The next spring they were both ravenous eaters.4 months without a meal!

If you have tried everything cool em down before their yolk meal is gone and let nature run it's course.
 
BEFORE the yolk supply is gone?!?

Not sure about that part, but it may be accurate. I do know that when Bartlett lived here, he brumated EVERYTHING for the winter-even snakes that hadn't held down a meal- and had success. I suppose many hatchlings go through the season without finding a single thing to eat and manage to brumate and still have enough in them to try again in the spring.
 
Scenting pinks for stubborn feeders

I keep a couple of colonies of deer mice and dwarf hamsters to scent regular pinks. I just take out some of the dirtiest bedding and bury the pinks in it (loosely, so they don't suffocate) for about 10 minutes. I find that about 20 - 25% of non-feeders (where I already tried braining, heads, bodies, etc) will usually take mouse pinkies scented with another kind of rodent if you confine them overnight with it in a deli cup. Try rats, gerbils, etc, etc. You never know what might be their cue. If you don't have other rodent bedding, try your local petshop. Maybe I will start bagging it up and selling it at the shows, lol! Of course you can scent with lizard or tree frog for those who don't go for the rodent aromas.
 
Elrojo-

Just another avenue.I have never force fed a hatchling.I feel if they won't eat there is a reason.Watching these little guy's gobble food for the first time in the spring amazed me.

Next time I won't make em wait as long.I'll put em down for 6 weeks and try it.

I found my first corn as a hatchling (11")skinny as a rail brumating with two siblings(same length anyway) under a roof shingle of an old well shed.

MAYBE some are prewired to wait until spring to eat when small foods are more plentiful.MAYBE that is one of the reason's they hatch with a full tank.

IF this is the case a hatchling that is stressed for several weeks(by attempting to feed or handle) before attempting to brumate MIGHT have a harder time surviving the brumation period.

If...Might...Maybe

Later
 
Update on mine...
Well, I had one entire clutch (of course my Miamis/Candy Canes 100% het for motley) hatch out non-feeders. I offered them all rat tails and only two took them willingly and the rest were force fed the tail. I attempted to feed all eight again last night and 6 out of 8 ate within minutes! Having a full belly must have left a good impression on them. :p Regular 'ol pinks too! No heads or bodies, I did squeeze the nose a little bit just to get some juices out. I am so relieved to get this clutch eating. Now only two left. I am going to try some tails on non-feeders from other clutches, durn it-I am out of rats. :rolleyes:
Check out these little fatties.
 

Attachments

  • fatmiamis.jpg
    fatmiamis.jpg
    51.8 KB · Views: 99
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top