1st Feeding

With hatchling season upon us I am seeing a lot of people asking for help getting their hatchlings to take their first (1st) meal and asking when they have to assist feed.

First I would like to say congratulations on your new hatchlings. I know egg laying and pipping season is always the most exciting time of the season for me.  The thrill of what may pip out and seeing those new lives come into the world is always like Christmas time for me.

There are many ways to start your hatchlings and I am not going to tell you my way is the right way. Or even that it is the only way. But after over a decade and half hatching and making mistakes, this is the method that has worked best for me the last several seasons since I switched to it. The last several seasons this has worked with over 150 hatchlings with less than 4 needing to be assisted.  Hopefully it will work for you.

• Tub Setup: Most of the issues you will encounter with your ball python can usually be traced back to your husbandry.  In the past I would start my hatchlings in v18 or 6qt (shoebox) tubs, with a paper towel in their racks. This would be hit or miss and a fairly high percentage of hatchlings refusing their 1st offerings.After finding that putting the hatchlings into a small deli cup with a feeder that most would take their meal, I switched to v15 tubs with a paper towel and water bowl. I found that hatchlings, much like their older counterparts prefer small tight enclosures.
• Racks:  I know not everyone keeps their ball pythons in racks and I am not one to bash those who keep them in tanks or other enclosures.  I will just say as someone who started off with my 1st ball python many years ago in a tank to now keeping over 100 in tubs in racks. It is way easier to keep the proper husbandry (temp, humidity, etc) for 100 in tubs than it was to keep 5 in tanks.My racks are all fully enclosed, use belly heat, and the temperature is controlled by thermostat.
  Note: I plan to switch to ambient heat in the near future.

These are the most frequently asked questions I see from new keepers.

1. When should you offer the 1st meal? 
   I wait for the 1st feeding day after their 1st shed.  This is typically 5-7 days after they hatch out of the egg. I should note that I wait for them to pip and emerge on their own from the egg.

   Note: NOTHING LEAVES Genetic Dreams without having taken at least five (5) meals. That is five (5) meals offered and five (5) meals taken in a row. If a hatchling refuses a offered meal the count is started over.  

2. What should I offer for their 1st meal?
   I always offer a LIVE mouse hopper. Sometimes you have to use a very small hopper or rat pinkie/fuzzy depending on the size of the hatchling.  But I find that the erratic movement of a mouse hopper tends to get the hatchlings attention and excite the feed response. I have had very small hatchlings that I had to start on rat pinkies/fuzzies for their 1st few meals.  The feed response from those was not as good as those offered hoppers.|
3. What do I do if my hatchling refuses it’s 1st offering?
   This happens from time to time. And there could be many reasons for this.  The 1st one and main reason I have found is husbandry.  See my comments above about Tub Size.  Most hatchlings can miss a meal or 2, they have just hatched out of the egg and most that fully absorbed their egg yolk will be ok.

   If the hatchling is decent size, fully absorbed their egg yolk and does not look particularly skinny I will remove the food offering and wait until the following week.  However, if the hatchling is small, had issues, didn’t absorb it’s yolk, or is just really small. I will try what I call the “deli cup trick”.

4. Deli Cup Trick
   What is the “deli cup trick”?  This is a technique I have tried as a fall back before having to resort to assist feeding.  I keep small snake shipping deli containers on hand. These are typically used for shipping smaller species- snakes, geckos, etc- and have air holes and a lid.  I will move the hatchling from it’s V15 tub to the smaller container (ie: deli cup) and put a mouse fuzzie or rat pinkie (eyes not open) in with the hatchling.  Then I put that container with the hatchling and feeder back into the rack close to but not directly on the heat tape. I do this at night or in a dark room.

Warning: With a container that small the snake will not have any sort of heat gradient, IT WILL GET TOO HOT if you put it directly on the heat tape.  The goal is to keep the snake from getting cold, not to get it hot.

Warning: It is also important to note. NEVER EVER LEAVE A LIVE FOOD PREY UNWATCHED WITH YOUR SNAKE. I only use mouse fuzzies or rat pinkie (eyes not open) when I use this technique.  Neither of those will be able to harm your hatchling. But even so you do not want to leave them unattended or without checking often.

5. When should I assist/force feed?
This is a difficult question to answer. The answer will vary situation to situation, hatchling to hatchling.  As general rule of thumb if a hatchling absorbed all its yolk, is not losing weight and looks healthy I keep offering live prey using one of the above tricks.  On the off chance the hatchling is loosing weight and hasn’t taken a meal in 3 weeks after it’s shed then I will try to assist/force feed.

6. How to assist/force feed:
Please double check your husbandry first as most issues can be traced back to that.  If your husbandry and temps are all in check and you have tried all the tricks above then read on.
Hopefully you will never need to do this. But if you do it is best to ask another local breeder for assistance.  The technique I have found that works for me to pre-kill a small prey rodent (typically a rat pinky) and use the head to gently open the hatchlings mouth and put the feeder into the hatchlings mouth into the throat a tiny bit.  Then place the hatchling back into its tub.  I try to keep the tubs dark and not to disturb the hatchling.

I check back in 30mins or so to make sure it took the feeder. If it didn’t I will try again.  Once the feeder is down. I leave the hatchling alone other than quick tub checks for water, etc. I typically skip that next feeding day and offer it a LIVE feeder the following one.

Warning: If you have never attempted an assist/force feeding before, please ask someone for help.  This can be stressful to both the hatchling and the keeper. And you may accidently hurt the hatchling in the process.