Snake Update

[adamanteus]

Hi Matt,

Do you mean that only part of the spectacle has come away? That it broke as you removed it? Are you sure? That would be most unusual, for the brille to come away in more than one piece. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen that.

How did you finally manage to remove (most of) the spectacle?

[abcat1993]

I put him in the "wet bag" over night. Now, there is a very slight amount of skin left above the left eye and possibly on the eye. I will try to take some macro pictures and see what you guys think. I was in a hurry this morning to get to school, that's why I didn't explain it much.

[adamanteus]

Sounds good. If the spectacle is still on the eye, try the sticky tape trick first. I'd be really cautious about going near the eyes with tweezers, unless you have a really steady hand, Matt.

[adamanteus]

Once you're sure the spectacle is gone I think you should consider getting some weight on that snake. If he won't eat and you're unsure about force/assist feeding just PM me and I'll help if I can.

[abcat1993]

I'm 95% sure that there is nothing on it now, my guess would be that he was rubbing his head on the wet pillow case that I left in there and it came off. He just refused ANOTHER worm and I'll sacrifice a mouse now.

[Cazador]

The best time to offer food for a finnicky snake is when it's "prowling" it's pen. If it's active and searching for something, it's more likely to eat. You might also try cutting the dead pinkie's stomach open to increase the smell of meat and blood. If that doesn't work, you might have to resort to a live, splashing, flopping fish or force-feeding in a few days.

[Stefan-A]

According to my very limited experience, the opposite seems to be true. It's no use trying to offer food while it's busy doing something else. I've had better success offering it food while it is basking or just lying around. A suddenly appearing food item seems to get its undivided attention. Also, I prefer cutting the nose.

Anyway, this is just my own recipe.

[Cazador]

Interesting difference, Stefan. I wonder what we do differently that creates the difference among problem feeders?

[Stefan-A]

It's probably just some difference between the snakes themselves, the reason why they won't eat or how we present the food item.

[mikm]

hello all ... At one time, I used to keep Corn Snakes as well as Garters. For problem feeders I would slit the skull of the f/t rodent squeezing a little of the brain matter out . I became accustomed to doing so and did it for the garters as well. Apparently this worked so well that when I parted with those garters their new owners reported that they had slight difficulty getting them to feed. They literally had to be weaned from the scent of brain matter.

Enjoy Your Day !!
marian