Agreed ... more

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Posted by patricia sherman on October 17, 2001 at 02:58:09:

In Reply to: Re: Should force-feeding continue? posted by Clay (A.R.B.) on October 16, 2001 at 04:28:28:

Greetings, Nyx:

I do agree with Clay, that a short brumation may do the trick. His suggestion that you continue the force-feeding to bulk Philip up prior to brumating, is a good one. You say you're giving him one pinkie every three days, and I'm sure that you're seeing some good results from doing so. The poor little guy was losing ground badly.

I don't think that the stress of being force-fed is anywhere near as harmful to him as was the starvation. My personal inclination now that you've got him well-started, if I had him here, would be upping the feeding to two pinkies per meal, and doing so three times per week for at least the next three weeks. Then let him go without food for at least six or seven days prior to putting him into brumation. The alternative, is to not brumate, but to continue with the force-feeding until he eventually does begin feeding on his own.

One of my yearlings was a holdout (and being forced twice-weekly) from Sept 2/2000 (hatch date) through Dec 24/2000. On that night, she finally took her first voluntary meal of a pinkie hamster followed by two pinkie mice. She's fed like a champion ever since, and has never been brumated. While she's still considerably smaller than her three siblings, she's doing very nicely now. I've decided to brumate her brothers this winter, but not to do so for her, to give her those additional months to grow and to catch up with them a bit. I've also instructed Paul to not brumate Philip's sibling ("Slinky-toy"). It is a personal preference of mine, not to brumate them during their first winter, but it won't harm Philip (provided he's properly bulked-up in advance), should you decide to do it.

Kind Regards,
Patricia

growth chart of my Elaphe babies

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: Greetings, Nyx: : I do agree with Clay, that a short brumation may do the trick. His suggestion that you continue the force-feeding to bulk Philip up prior to brumating, is a good one. You say you're giving him one pinkie every three days, and I'm sure that you're seeing some good results from doing so. The poor little guy was losing ground badly. : I don't think that the stress of being force-fed is anywhere near as harmful to him as was the starvation. My personal inclination now that you've got him well-started, if I had him here, would be upping the feeding to two pinkies per meal, and doing so three times per week for at least the next three weeks. Then let him go without food for at least six or seven days prior to putting him into brumation. The alternative, is to not brumate, but to continue with the force-feeding until he eventually does begin feeding on his own. : One of my yearlings was a holdout (and being forced twice-weekly) from Sept 2/2000 (hatch date) through Dec 24/2000. On that night, she finally took her first voluntary meal of a pinkie hamster followed by two pinkie mice. She's fed like a champion ever since, and has never been brumated. While she's still considerably smaller than her three siblings, she's doing very nicely now. I've decided to brumate her brothers this winter, but not to do so for her, to give her those additional months to grow and to catch up with them a bit. I've also instructed Paul to not brumate Philip's sibling ("Slinky-toy"). It is a personal preference of mine, not to brumate them during their first winter, but it won't harm Philip (provided he's properly bulked-up in advance), should you decide to do it. : Kind Regards, : Patricia

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