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Posted by oldherper on March 27, 2003 at 11:43:34:
In Reply to: Young ones that won't eat pinkies posted by Clintsky on November 07, 2002 at 21:14:42:
:I'm helping a friend get three neonates to eat pinkies. One has eaten an unscented, washed and brained pink, and the other two have not. They have eaten geckos. Any suggestions in getting these guys to eat pinks would be helpful.
:Thanks,
:Clint
Here's a procedure that works for me a very high percentage of the time:
1st, put him in a deli cup with nothing but him and a day-old live pinkie in it and leave him there for several hours. About 10% of them feed like that for me right off the bat.
If that doesn't work after a couple of tries, get some Lizard Maker and rinse the pinkie off with water, dry thoroughly with a paper towel, then put some Lizard Maker on another paper towel and wrap the pinkie in the wet part of the paper towel for a few minutes to get some Lizard Maker on him. Then put the snake and the pinkie back in the deli cup and leave them for several hours. About 80% of the non-pinkie eaters will eat after the first or second attempt like this.
If that doesn't work, then the snake will probably need to be force fed to keep it from losing body weight, dehydrating and losing electrolytes. Use a Pinkie Press and put a small amount of Jump-Start on the pinkie. Every week, try the scented pinkie first, then if that doesn't work, force feed him. Give him a week in between force-feedings to avoid stressing him too much. After a few weeks, nearly all of them will respond and start taking scented pinkies, then it's an easy thing to switch him to unscented pinkies.
I have found that once you feed a Grayband a lizard, it is MUCH more difficult to switch him to pinkies. YMMV.
