He ATE, He ATe, well kinda

knads06 · 06-25-04, 03:40 PM

Well as some people know here my baby bp hasnt eaten since i got him over 7 weeks ago. I decided today to bring him to my local reptile store where the owner breeds bp's and said he would be more then happy to show me the proper way to "forcefeed" my snake. I know it stresses the snake out but i was just happy to know that my bp finally has something in his stomach. The owner told me the if he regurgitates it up within the next two days that he could have a internal perasite in which case id need to bring him to the vet. He also explained to me the do's and donts about forcefeeding. If done properly it will only help the snake to start eating. I just hope it gets better from this point. He said i should also attempt to feed him on monday which i thought was odd but he said it would be for the best. We fed it a good size rat fuzzy so hopefully he'll take another one down next time and ill keep moving up in size from there. Thanks to everyone for the opinions and help along this bumpy road.

elevation24 · 06-25-04, 08:52 PM

I'm glad to hear that you got something in his stomach. Be sure not to handle him at all for the next few days so that he can digest his meal undisturbed. If he is handled he will be more likely to regurgitate what he took. Hopefully he will start taking food on his own so that you will not have to assist feed again.

I'm also glad to hear that you gave him a rat fuzzy! Hopefully he will keep with the rats, too

Good luck!

marisa · 06-25-04, 09:05 PM

I would not try to feed it again monday. There is not a good reason too, and it's not really for the best like the person said. What's for the best is now letting this snake have a period of 7+ days totally alone, then offer food.

It's never good to push them to eat. Now your "snake has something in its stomach" it will NOT starve to death, period. I would give it a week between feedings, especially since it was force feeding. IMHO.

Marisa

knads06 · 06-26-04, 01:40 AM

And thats exactly what i thought when the pet store owner told me that as well. Im happy he finally has something in his stomach and im gonna let my bp relax after being force fed for the first time. Obviously it stressed him out somewhat but now that he has something in his stomach i can relax a little bit and attempt to feed him again in a week. If he doesnt take it by himself i can always force feed again as a last option.

marisa · 06-26-04, 08:07 AM

You keep mentioning "happy he has something in his stomach" but you are forgetting that snakes can go WEEKS, MONTHS, or even YEARS without food. He wasn't starving or even close, and now that he has had some food, he is NOT going to starve. So don't push him, and don't force feed him just because it makes you feel better.

Remember, snakes aren't people.

Marisa

justinO · 06-26-04, 08:12 AM

did they "force feed" or "assist feed"? force feeding is messy and involves restraining the snake and shoving the prey all the way down it's throat. assisst feeding is less stressful (although still stressful) and puts the prey just in it's mouth and lets the feeding response kick in.

i'm sure assist feeding would have been fine, if it was force fed, i wouldn't go near that snake for over a week.

also, if it is a parasite, everything at that store has it.

yuck.

Jess

knads06 · 06-26-04, 09:29 AM

He definitely assist fed it because once the pinky was in his mouth it started to slowly go down. I know snakes can go a long time without eating but what your forgetting is that this was a baby bp that hasnt eaten once since it was born. This was the first source of food it has ever has and thats why im happy. If he was a little older and had eaten before then 7 weeks without eating wouldnt have been that big of a deal. But since he was a new born baby thats why im happy. Hopefully everything gets better from here.

knads06 · 06-27-04, 08:09 PM

After I "assist fed" my bp the other day he immediately retreated to his hide and was in there for about a full day or so but for the past two days now he's been extremely active mowing about his entire home. Do you guys think this is a good sign and should i attempt to feed him again on monday as the reptile store owner told me to or leave him alone for a full week like some of u have said?

**Andy_G** · 06-27-04, 08:56 PM

Leave him be. He could be checking things out, but it could also be stress(which is most likely the case). Follow the advice until you learn how your snake is when it comes to feeding.

I'm also wondering as to whether you are feeding live...most baby balls need to have live food the first few meals and they are progressively switched over to f/t. If you have been offering f/t, offer it again in 7 days and if he takes it, great, but if he doesn't, switch to live for a few meals and then try to get him switched over to f/t after that.

knads06 · 06-27-04, 09:41 PM

Ive always offered him live mice and rats. The only problem with that was since he wasnt eating the mouse or rat would almost attack the snake and id have to pull it out and just end up knocking it unconscious then offering it to him again. With pinkies or fuzzy rats i obviously never had that problem because there eyes are shut. Hopefully he'll eat on his own from this point on.