When you bring home a captive-bred hatchling snake, getting it to feed can sometimes be a challenge. Hatchlings can be particularly finicky, whether it’s due to stress, unfamiliar surroundings, or species-specific feeding quirks. While most hatchling snakes readily accept food when they are healthy and housed properly, there are times when extra encouragement is needed. In this post, we’ll explore various snake species and methods that can help you get your hatchling to start eating.
General Principles for Feeding Hatchling Snakes
Regardless of species, a few foundational principles apply when it comes to feeding hatchlings:
Correct Enclosure Setup: Ensuring the hatchling is housed in an environment that meets its specific temperature, humidity, and lighting needs is essential. A poor setup can lead to stress, which often causes snakes to refuse food. Make sure to include appropriate hides and cover so the snake feels secure.
Temperature and Humidity: Snakes need to be within their optimal thermal gradient to digest food properly. If a snake is too cold, it may not have the energy or biological signals to feed. Verify that the warm side of the enclosure provides an adequate basking spot, while the cool side offers a retreat.
Appropriate Prey Size: Feeding your hatchling too large a prey item can cause it to reject the meal. A good rule of thumb is to offer prey about the same thickness as the widest part of the snake’s body.
Timing: Hatchling snakes are often shy and nocturnal, preferring to eat in dim or dark environments. Try feeding your snake after lights go out or in a darkened room if it refuses to eat during the day.
Species-Specific Considerations
Different snake species have varying feeding behaviours and preferences. Let’s look at a few commonly kept hatchling snakes and their tendencies.
1. Corn Snakes (Pantherophis guttatus)
Corn snakes are typically excellent feeders, even as hatchlings, but some may require a little coaxing in the beginning.
Tips:
Start by offering appropriately sized pinky mice (newborn mice).
If the hatchling refuses, try offering the prey slightly warmer than room temperature by using a hairdryer or dipping it in warm water for a few seconds.
You can also use tongs to gently wiggle the prey to simulate movement, which can trigger the hatchling’s feeding response.
2. Ball Pythons (Python regius)
Ball pythons, especially hatchlings, can be notorious for going off food. These snakes often prefer live prey over frozen-thawed (F/T) initially, and their feeding can be heavily influenced by environmental conditions.
Tips:
Ensure the snake has plenty of cover and hiding spots, as these snakes can feel insecure in wide-open spaces.
You can also try scenting the F/T prey with something that smells more familiar or appealing. You can rub a rodent’s fur with the scent of a chick or lizard to entice a picky ball python.
Some ball python keepers have success feeding in a small container outside the enclosure, as the restricted space can help the snake focus on its prey.
Alternatively trying an alternative prey item like Multi-mammate mice is also an option that has yielded great results.
3. Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis spp.)
Kingsnakes are generally eager feeders and tend to be less problematic, but hatchlings may sometimes hesitate.
Tips:
These snakes are opportunistic feeders and may respond well to pre-scenting the feeding area by warming up the rodent and placing it near the snake before offering it directly.
If the hatchling still won’t feed, offering a slightly smaller prey item than usual can help entice the snake to eat.
4. Milk Snakes (Lampropeltis triangulum)
Milk snakes can be a bit more nervous as hatchlings, which may make them less inclined to feed. They also require a bit more privacy and security.
Tips:
Offering food in a quiet, undisturbed area is essential.
Try leaving the prey in the snake’s enclosure overnight in a darkened space to give the snake the opportunity to feed when it feels safe.
5. Green Tree Pythons (Morelia viridis)
These arboreal species are often hesitant feeders as hatchlings and may have very specific feeding preferences.
Tips:
Green tree pythons are often triggered by movement, so gently offering the prey from below with tongs and moving it in a lifelike way and touching the snakes body with the prey item can stimulate a feeding response.
If the snake is still hesitant, try switching to smaller prey, such as a fuzzy mouse, or scenting the prey with a lizard.
Alternative Feeding Methods for Reluctant Hatchlings
When normal feeding approaches don’t work, there are several alternative methods you can try:
1. Scenting Prey
Some hatchling snakes may be more attracted to prey items that smell familiar or natural to them. You can scent prey by rubbing it against other animals, such as chicks, fish, or lizards, depending on what the snake may naturally encounter in the wild.
Lizard Scenting: Especially useful for species like green tree pythons or other arboreal species.
Bird Scenting: Some hatchlings respond better to prey that smells like chicks or small birds, particularly pythons and boas.
2. Braining
This method involves cutting the skull of the prey to expose the brain matter, which can sometimes stimulate a reluctant snake to feed. While it may sound unpleasant, this method is often effective when traditional approaches fail.
3. Tease Feeding
Tease feeding involves using tongs to gently move the prey in front of the snake to stimulate a predatory response. This method can help reluctant feeders who are more responsive to movement. Gently tapping the prey item on the snake’s tail will often induce a defensive bite which often leads to the snake consuming the prey item as a result.
4. Live Prey
Although live feeding should be avoided due to the risk of injury to the snake, some hatchlings will only respond to live prey in the beginning. If you choose this method, ensure that the prey is small enough not to injure the snake and never leave live prey in the enclosure unattended. Please note that in South Africa it is a criminal offence to feed live prey to snakes.
5. Assist Feeding
As a last resort, you can assist feed a hatchling by gently placing the prey item into its mouth to initiate a feeding response. This should be done with care and only after other methods have failed, as it can stress the snake. If you are unsure how to do this, seek advice from a reptile vet or experienced keeper.
Conclusion
Getting a captive-bred hatchling snake to feed requires patience, persistence, and understanding of its specific needs. Ensuring that the environment is suitable and experimenting with different methods, prey types, and feeding strategies can make all the difference. Each snake is an individual, and sometimes finding what works is a matter of trial and error. However, with the right approach, most hatchlings will eventually start feeding and develop into healthy, thriving snakes.
Have you had any success with an unusual feeding technique? Let us know in the comments!
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