Undersized Babies

Hey Everyone,

I'm just looking for opinions, I have a plan of action but I'm curious what other people have to say.

I had a clutch of eggs that I had to give to a friend to hatch because I was moving and didn't feel comfortable bringing them with me. They hatched out, apparently took a while to start eating, but sure, no problem. I had them sent down to me finally, there were tons of snags before this week to prevent them from coming down, mostly scheduling issues and whatnot. They get here today, they're severely undersized, one is dead from shipping and the others look almost emaciated they're so skinny. Only one is fat and healthy and happy, it turns out that up until now they were all kept in the same tub, which I was of course not happy to hear.

So now I have these 5 snakes that are tiny tiny tiny, and I imagine very stressed out. They hatched in early july, maybe late june, and the smallest is something like 50 grams. I was told they eat live hopper mice, so they know how to eat.

My plan is to leave them alone for 4 days, they are set up in a boaphile baby rack now, they each have a water bowl and a hide, they are kept warm at 88-89. Every other baby I've had in that rack has thrived, so I'm leaving those conditions alone. So they're warm, separated and hopefully will de-stress over the next few days.

After 4 days I would like to try to feed them. If they were bigger I would leave them alone for a week, but as it is I would like to try to get them eating as soon as possible while not stressing them out.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or ideas?

Thanks for reading!

Sounds like a good plan to me. Last resort you could try assisted feeding. Usually just place your thumb and forefinger gently behind the snakes head then basically gently push the feeder into the snakes mouth with your other hand. Hopefully this will trigger a feeding response and it should get it down on its own. Good luck with it.

I forgot mention other options before the last resort of assist feeding. Try different types of prey, possibly scenting prey with other prey, dangling it in front of the snake with tongs, leaving the snake alone with dead prey for a few hours. place the snake in a brown bag or deli cup with the dead prey, etc. Try the options.

Thanks Matt, I've had some experience assist feeding and working with troublesome feeders, but I usually start earlier in the game with them. Thanks for the advice!

Even a poor feeder that age should have a few hundred grams on it. At that small, I'd assist feed the VERY next day if they don't feed. You've been told that they've fed, but not the interval perhaps? Water under the bridge anyways. The important thing is you've got them set-up right & feed or assist feed each 5-7 day until you've got some better size on them. Wee ones like that don't have the reserves to go without meals for long intervals.

Glad they have you to take care of them now. -Deb

Thanks Deb, I'll be doing everything I can to make sure they make it and learn to eat on their own. Here's to hoping they make it to saturday!

keep us posted on what worked.

Did these guys eat for ya today.

Good luck on them

Hey guys, thanks for your support! Every single one of the little brats ate today, I'm so happy. They all have lumps in them from eating fuzzy/small hopper mice, which is really sad, but they're on their way!
For those of you curious or facing similar problems, I left them alone for four days, put a live mouse in their tub after dark, turned off the lights and left the room for half an hour (Trouble feeders often eat better in the dark). When I got back they all had lumps and their mice were missing.

Thanks again!

I'd be suspicious if it was just they weren't being fed enough, being that they all ate for you without issue.