A little technique to get a baby eating

[jwsporty]

Hey folks,

I have been taking care of a baby Mexican Milk for a friend that was sent over as a problem feeder. After trying all the usual methods to get him going on food (small container, brained pinkie, different times of the day, live, dead,etc.) I was not having any luck. I decided is was time to try an assist feed but he was so small I knew this was going to stress him out. So here's what I did.

I squished the pinky head until blood started to come out of the nostrils, then gently slipped a credit card into his mouth to open up. Then I let three drops of blood flow into his mouth and gently took out the card. Then I put him into his delicup for feeding and gently smeared a little more blood along the side of his mouth and then presented the pinkie to him. In about 1 minute he was happily chowing down on the pinkie and now everything is good.

The whole process was very non invasive and very low stress. I can't say if the method was the kicker or simply the fact that he hadn't eaten in 8 weeks but either way the little guy is now on his way.

Give it a try if all else fails. It worked for me

Jim

[Tim_Cranwill]

Interesting...

[RepTylE]

You can be sure that I'll file that away for future reference. That technique might come in handy some day.

[jay76]

If that works on snow corns too, I'll owe you a beer or three!

[vanderkm]

Wonderful news - these little guys that are relutant to start can be a real challenge and all the additional info on things that work comes in handy. Mexican milks can respond well to lizard scenting too - the breeder of ours used that to get several of the clutch going. I am almost at the point of trying it with some corns I have that haven't started feeding yet - but will give the blood drops a shot first - braining, live and dead of various sizes don't seem to be doing it for them.

thanks,

mary v.