T. Pope Feeding...

Ok, if the tail-teasing and hour-long attempts to coax do not produce a feeding, only a few token strikes, how do I get my 8 week old baby Popes to feed? I've been using fresh, cut-up pinkies. Out of 11 babies, three have eaten only once.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated....What do they feed on in the wild at this age?

Small tree frogs or small anoles.
In nature they seldom find pinks as neos.

I try assorted feeding stimuli including small crickets and waxworms, baby geckoes (there are plenty on my porch), young tree frogs and tree frog scented pinky parts. I allow the young ones to perch in a thick cover of plastic plants a few inches off the ground and place the food items on the ground under them.

When that doesn't work, which it often doesn't, I mix up some Mazuri carnivore gel and hit the kids with a feeding pump every week for a few months until they are large enough to take pinks on their own.

I tubed them the other week just to see how difficult it would be to tube something so tiny. They are so "fragile" that I was afraid I'd hurt them. How do you force feed them when they're so tiny? The tube itself would be almost needle-like in diameter, I would think...

I have fed whole clutches over and over with a pinky pump.
Be carefull you can get bit.
And be careful not to kill them.
meter the pump to give only a half a small pink.
Its fun!

Hammer,

I already replied in detail on the other forum you asked this question on, but here's a repeat for this forum.

I hook the babies onto a soft foam pad. I pin them gently, using one finger on top of the head and my hand on the body. The feeding needle is introduced into the corner of the mouth while the snake is on the foam pad. I don't pick up the tiny snakes because they are too fragile. I just slide the needle in while they are gently pressed against the soft padding.

The ball tip of the small gauge needle is too large to go down the glottis but I try to verify placement visually anyhow before proceeding. I deliver a small amount of liquid nourishment, the equivalent of a standard meal (maybe .15 to .2 cc) using Mazuri carnivorous reptile gel.

http://www.snakegetters.com/demo/assist-feed.html