Re: Trouble with new elaphe obsoleta...

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Posted by patricia sherman on July 27, 2001 at 05:28:55:

In Reply to: Trouble with new elaphe obsoleta... posted by Nyx on July 20, 2001 at 13:50:28:

With my clutch of E.o.o., it was evident from the start that a couple of the babies were slower than the others. These two absolutely wouldn't start feeding on their own.

When they were three weeks old, I tried force-feeding them. For one of them, I only had to do this twice, then it started feeding. The other, the smallest, had to be forced for several months.

This smallest baby, is still far behind its siblings. It eats very well now, but only thawed pinkies and velvets. The others are all eating thawed hoppers, and/or thawed pinky rats. The largest one is taking two or three at a meal.

These babies are now eleven months old. The largest is more than twice the length of the smallest. The others are all of a size about 3/4ths that of the largest.

Try offering your baby very tiny thawed pinkie mice that have been dipped in chicken broth. If it still won't take food voluntarily after a few days, then either force, or get someone more experienced to do so. I found the easiest way was to wet the pinkie in water (it slides easier when wet), then hold the baby just behind the head, and tease it into striking at the pinkie. When it struck, I then held the pinkie inside its mouth, and gently pushed it further while stroking the sides of the mouth forwards. Once the mouse was far enough in that I could hold the jaws closed over the prey's butt, the snakey swallowed quite well.

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: With my clutch of E.o.o., it was evident from the start that a couple of the babies were slower than the others. These two absolutely wouldn't start feeding on their own. : When they were three weeks old, I tried force-feeding them. For one of them, I only had to do this twice, then it started feeding. The other, the smallest, had to be forced for several months. : This smallest baby, is still far behind its siblings. It eats very well now, but only thawed pinkies and velvets. The others are all eating thawed hoppers, and/or thawed pinky rats. The largest one is taking two or three at a meal. : These babies are now eleven months old. The largest is more than twice the length of the smallest. The others are all of a size about 3/4ths that of the largest. : Try offering your baby very tiny thawed pinkie mice that have been dipped in chicken broth. If it still won't take food voluntarily after a few days, then either force, or get someone more experienced to do so. I found the easiest way was to wet the pinkie in water (it slides easier when wet), then hold the baby just behind the head, and tease it into striking at the pinkie. When it struck, I then held the pinkie inside its mouth, and gently pushed it further while stroking the sides of the mouth forwards. Once the mouse was far enough in that I could hold the jaws closed over the prey's butt, the snakey swallowed quite well.

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