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Showing posts from September, 2013

Pipette feeding baby snake

This baby Fiji boa is trying to starve himself to death, and I am trying to not let him do it. We are engaged in a battle of wills right now. I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS EXCEPT AS A LAST RESORT - this is not for stubborn feeders, this is for snakes who are almost on the point of death and there is nothing left to try. This baby had lost more than 10% of birth weight, regurgitated assist fed solid food, and was severely dehydrated and lethargic. I tried assist feeding with prey animals and let him refuse food for almost 2 months before I tried this. A day after I fed him like this he was lively and active again. I am now doing this every 2 or 3 days, and hope to eventually get him back onto solid food.  It is also not exactly how the manufacturers intend this to be used - they recommend feeding the thick paste, but this snake regurgitates anything solid, so a dilute suspension is being used here until I can get him back onto solids. If trying this, it is important to go