Re: well....

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Posted by jasons-jungle on February 20, 2003 at 11:31:19:

In Reply to: Re: well.... posted by Sonya on February 20, 2003 at 09:14:53:

:I thought they were those paradoxes. And I don't blame you for worrying. I would too. Like it or not people look at dollar value sometimes. That and those three are just too cute to lose.
: That said I wouldn't panic for weeks. Easy for me to say. ;-)But really. I just fed my yearling girl who just shed. She had to be reminded of the prey three times before she said "Oh hey! There's a mouse in here!" I just gently put it in front of her, facing her a couple of times. For some reason I find that often if the snake can smell the prey's mouth it helps. Go fig. But with tiny babies I put them in a deli cup and leave them totally alone for an hour at least, then maybe peek. I usually just put them in the cup and put it all back in the enclosure so that the heat is good. Good luck and let us know.
:Sonya

Heck, when I read your story and I was worried and they weren't even my snakes! :) You have all right to worry about them.
IMHO, go through all of the normal tricks (especially the one mentioned earlier about putting live pinks in a deli cup). A lot of people will also use the 'nesting technique'. Take some live pinks and put them in a deli cup with some substrate with the lid off. This will similate invading a nest and can sometimes spark feeding interest.
Once you hit the 2 month mark, I would start worrying. As much as I hate to say it, I have an albino who hasn't eaten in almost 10 weeks. She's lost quite a bit of weight, but she still has energy and flicks her tongue. She's currently on meds and will hopefully swing out of it. If you hit the 2 month mark, I would recommend going to the vet.
If you must force feed (I have had some very bad and fatal luck in the past), I would suggest the "assisted feeding" method where you take a smaller food object (in your case, probably a very small pinky) and insert it into the snake's mouth and slightly into their throat. Let go and hopefully instinct will take over. You may have to try it several times but it often works. If that doesn't work, invest in a pinkie pump. It's a horribly gross device but it works. I won't go into the details here, but they are available at most online stores such as Bean Farm, LLL and Big Apple.
On the positive side, I'm glad to hear that they did indeed survie the shipment and are still around to tell about it. Good luck with them and please keep us posted!
Jason @ Jason's Jungle

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Just one other thing you might try...... Rob Lewis 02/20/03 (1)
- Thanks for replys meretseger 02/21/03 (0)