Posted by Alan at WW! on July 09, 1997 at 21:42:02:
In Reply to: Wild caught female not eating mice posted by T. Dean McInturff on July 09, 1997 at 19:23:51:
: I have a w/c female that was captured 6-13-97 near the
: antennae on 277.On date of capture she was 34½" long,
: 200g. She was offered one fuzzy each week (4) since
: capture and refused all of them. On 7-5-97 admin
: .25cc Flagyl and .25cc Panacur. On 7-7-97 gave warm
: water soak that morning, offered lizard scented fuzzy
: that evening. She refused the fuzzy. Finally gave her
: an earless lizard on 7-8-97 which she readily took.
: She has had three smelly, greenish uric stools (one in
: the warm water bath). Appears generally lethargic.
: Otherwise, she looks fine. No mouth or anal sores or
: secretions. Nasal passages are clear.
:
: Any suggestions?
Dean ...
I've had very good recent success
offering thawed and washed/rinsed/air dried
mice in a cloth snake bag. I'll place a
corner of the bag over my heat tape, place
a folded hand towel over the bag (so as to
keep it flat) and leave the two together
undisturbed overnight. The one dimensional
world the bag presents clearly offers some
security aspect that other environments lack.
Recent successes for this technique
include a ten month old alterna that had
never eaten (I tubed him to keep him going)
and a San Gabriel rosy neonate that had
always been a problem feeder. Both had been
hibernated for six weeks but that too failed
to get them feeding.
Good luck ...
Alan at WW!