FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - Vitamin supplements and forcefeeding snakes
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Old 08-28-2018, 12:40 PM   #5
hotlips
One other thing, if you're about to tube-feed a snake (as above), it also helps to get the snake to lubricate their throat FIRST...so encourage them to drink a bit of water by gently passing their head under a low-running tap- this will usually get them to drink some and it's no more "rude" than when they're rained on in the wild.

If you've forgotten to do that, just as you put the tube into their throat you can slightly push the plunger on the syringe to release just a bit of the Gerber's mixture into the top of their throat...this too will make the tubing slide in the rest of the way easier- another reason to add a drop or 2 of vegetable oil to the liquid food. (I also apply a bit of oil to the outside of the catheter...slick just works better.)

I've never fed raw beaten eggs before, but I've tube-fed & saved a number of snakes using Gerber's Chicken babyfood. I haven't looked at ALL the brands so there may be others now with limited and quality ingredients that will work well for snakes too, but read all labels carefully if you can't find Gerber's brand. Gerbers is very well-tolerated (ie. quickly digested) for a snake that's ailing, and the simple limited ingredients are what a snake needs, not high fructose corn syrup etc. that's in many other brands I've looked at.

I know that many resist the idea of tube-feeding a snake, but I can assure you that it can be done gently & without further harming the snake. Think of it as similar to the I.V. you get when in the hospital...without that nutrition, you'd be far less likely to regain energy enough to recover. But we cannot give a snake an I.V.- so a tube-feed is the next best thing to keep them from a down-ward spiral.

It's critically important to use only the syringe & catheter* as described for doing this. *The catheter used is a human medical urethral catheter, made of flexible material that has a rounded end...the liquid goes thru holes NEAR but not at the end...this keeps the tubing from causing pain & injuring tissues when it's inserted. You never want to use just any plastic tubing for tube-feeding since the cut end can hurt (cause internal injuries to) the snake you're trying to feed and save.