Guess I'll express a few things more specifically, to explain why I came to the conclusion that I did.
First- the decision to force feed the animal to begin with, it's origin as far as I know it. The video was shown to me in the fauna chat room, then I was aimed at it's point of origination. I've screenshotted the page on Deborah's site where it was stuck... Her presentation of it to the public was on a page detailing her projects and was as follows-
"It's been a great day for Deb's Captive Bred Ball Pythons! Our Yellow-back pairing was successful! Our first hatching produced twins! We will be holding these back to prove out that the twin gene and see if the dam, sire or hatchlings throw more twins in the future... stay tuned!"
Followed by-
"I have been assist feeding the twins. They weighted 20-25 grams at birth. Their weight remains stable."
Then the URL to her own photobucket account where the video was hosted and the following quote-
"Unfortunately, the twins never thrived and did not survive."
To sum that up, Deborah apparantly believed that twinning is the result of a genetic tendency rather than a result of the physical action involved in the fertilization process and wished to attempt to duplicate the production of neonates that were splitting the yolk contents between two developing offspring and the undersized runt failure to thrive snakes that resulted. I would call that position alone morally reprehensible and biologically irresponsible, it conflicts directly with my stance that anyone seeking to breed animals should make every effort to only contribute positively to the captive populations.
Moving on, her choice to assist feed to begin with is one that is questionable at best. Encouraging the continued existance of animals which are clearly suffering from a debilitating condition from the moment they hatch is irresponsible. Further, while she is incorrect in assuming a genetic cause, the fact that she thinks one exists indicates that she feels these animals are likely to produce similar offspring, with a similar set of problems and went out of her way to actively seek their continued existance, rather than euthanizing them.
I have never personally come across a description of force feeding or assist feeding for any method which was not covered in disclaimers about the inherent invasiveness and the need to excersize extreme care. The overwhelming majority of written descriptions stress the value of being shown the proper technique rather than attempting it blind. This is an example of Deborah's continued posturing as a competent, educated individual which leads to her overstepping the boundaries of her experience to the detriment of her own animals and the animals of those who believe she is as she presents herself... a successful, experienced breeder.
Moving on to what is directly presented in the video. She makes a choice to use the smoothed edges of the metal tube rather than a softer, more versatile attachment of rubber or plastic. This is a direct result of her inexperience and her inexperience and ignorance is the core of the abuse. An individual with no business trying what she tried will make ignorant mistakes, this should not be overlooked, forgiven or seen as an excuse, it should be seen as further condemnation of the person who chooses to go ahead regardless of their naevity.
For me the video is displaying with a time indicator of the duration remaining rather than the duration played... At around two minutes remaining, she grips the snake in preparation for the feeding, choosing to hold the animal with the thumb, index and middle finger of her left hand just below the head, with the body dangling free below the point of contact. That handling approach is entirely inappropriate regardless of the activity being performed and it alone would have warranted an accusation (and proof) of mishandling conducive to injury, especially with the proportional weight distribution of a terrestrial boid and especially with the thinner, more delicate skeletal structure of a neonate (and a runt neonate at that).
Approximately seven seconds later, she first attempts to introduce the pump to the animal. She does not choose to use a specula, a makeshift specula of any kind, her own fingertips or those of the other people present while this is being shot (at least one holding the camera and one additional set of hands shown later in the video) to open the mouth for a proper and precise insertion into the throat but rather applies pressure to the base of the jaw while pushing and rubbing the tip of the tube against the animal's lips, teeth and gums in an effort to get it's mouth open. The animal is *still* being held in a manner which does not support or control the dangling weight of the body and begins thrashing from the neck as a response.
Several seconds after that, her finger grip shifts upwards, with pressure between her thumb and index finger being applied to the eyes and skull with sufficient force to continue holding the animal's weight against it's increasing struggles.
Around 1:34 remaining, she manages to get the tube into the mouth... While the easiest assumption is that it was inserted into the throat, the animal's mouth is still barely open wide enough to admit the tube and there's no possibility of visually verifying it's placement in the throat rather than the trachea. If it was inserted into the trachea, it would most easily explain the immediate bubbling "regurge" shown after the tube is removed, although it's impossible from what is shown to draw a 100% undeniable conclusion. Note at this time, that however the tube is being inserted, the lack of control and support over the animal's body has allowed it to curl it's neck at a tight angle immediately behind the skull, so that when the ridgid tube enters and is pushed forward, the tube itself is responsible for the subsequent straigtening of the animal. Think carefully about the specific forces that are being applied internally as the coil is forced straight by pressure inside the throat. While the surgical steel is rouned off, it's still ridgid and it's still about as thick around as a pencil.
Around 1:28 remaining, the nozzle section of the feeding tube is now fully inserted, certainly to a depth that is more than sufficient to utilize the pinky pump. The front teeth and jaw are now touching the thicker section of the tube which contains the intended food items... While snakes have elastile tendons in their jaw and the ability to swallow larger prey items, the pressure which begins being applied and the ridgidity of the item being inserted now again apply pressure and force in a manner that is completely contradictory to the method of action that a snake's jaw is intended to exhibit. At this time, the load inside the pump can also be seen. As Wes noted, there's a lot of space between the whole prey items and the mass of prey that's being given to an undersized animal which has been exhibiting feeding issues is excessive. When a half sized neonate hasn't eaten for a sufficient amount of time to begin dropping weight, six or more pinkies is in itself an inappropriate choice.
1:23, the animal is treated as a water balloon. It's being held upright with absolutely nothing supporting it's body, Deborah is using two fingertips to maintain pressure sufficient to keep the smooth, ridgid tube in place as she inserts the pump far further than it was intended to be inserted, forcing the snake to open it's jaw and throat around the bulk of the tool. The remaining three fingers of that hand are actually pulled completely away and are held straight so as to not contact or support the animal. The writhing becomes more intense.
1:13 remaining, the animal attempts to ball and is unable to do so due to the ridgid tube, however the body is left uncontrolled so that it's efforts again allow excessive pressure to be placed internally in the areas where it is attempting to bend itself against the nozzle tip.
Around 1:00, she finally gets the second person to straighten the animal as she continues depressing the plunger of the pump. During the process of plunging, she begins withdrawing it so as to complete the depression with the nozzle loose in the mouth, squirting pinky mash over both the throat and the opening to the trachea.
Around 50 seconds remaining, she shakes the pump up and down in relation to the animal's now restrained throat and lower jaw.
The snake was simply callously and roughly handled in a manner that was likely to cause injury as a result during a process the owner had no business undertaking to begin with and no understanding of what was being done that was wrong. I sincerely do not care if abuse is the result of intention or ignorance, the end result is identical and the animal in question is the one that suffered for it.
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