Post by Vicki on Sept 2, 2005 10:50:17 GMT
Hope is one of my little hatchlings who at the moment is on the brink of life and death. She was born a week after the others from an egg half the size. If you can image a newly hatched, she was less than half the size, about 5 inches long and half the width of a pencil.
She was born on 15/07/05 (Craigs birthday)
Anyway after 2 weeks no shed, the following week she was trying to shed but couldnt. She was put in a very high humidity container and after a week it did come off in bits.
But...she still wasnt feeding. Due to her small size we could only offer her pinkie heads. She would strike but always miss as it seems her co-ordination was poor. Two weeks ago I tried assist feeding, she takes the head but just sits very still and held it in her mouth for over an hour, and the same the next time, and the next etc etc.
So yesterday I took her to Tim (who runs our local reptile shop). The reason being is now she is rapidly loosing weight and strength and needed some food. He said he had never ever seen anything so tiny. He even took photos of her!!
So again she took the head and just sat there. In the end she had to be force fed. The head was pushed in but she was still not responding. We had to massage the pinkie head right the way to her stomach. I left her with Tim for a few hours and he did the same with another pinkie head.
It seems that little Hope hasnt developed the muscles to eat properly or may now be too weak. We say this as she strikes, coils, puts the pinkie in her mouth but wont swallow.
So 18hours later she has so far kept the pinkie heads down. She is still in her warm hide digesting.
The next week or so are so important for her now. If we hadnt forced the pinkies down her life would have been over within the next 2 weeks. We are now hoping she will keep them down and soon begin to feed on her own.
I will get some pics of her soon and keep you all updated of Hopes fight for life
She was born on 15/07/05 (Craigs birthday)
Anyway after 2 weeks no shed, the following week she was trying to shed but couldnt. She was put in a very high humidity container and after a week it did come off in bits.
But...she still wasnt feeding. Due to her small size we could only offer her pinkie heads. She would strike but always miss as it seems her co-ordination was poor. Two weeks ago I tried assist feeding, she takes the head but just sits very still and held it in her mouth for over an hour, and the same the next time, and the next etc etc.
So yesterday I took her to Tim (who runs our local reptile shop). The reason being is now she is rapidly loosing weight and strength and needed some food. He said he had never ever seen anything so tiny. He even took photos of her!!
So again she took the head and just sat there. In the end she had to be force fed. The head was pushed in but she was still not responding. We had to massage the pinkie head right the way to her stomach. I left her with Tim for a few hours and he did the same with another pinkie head.
It seems that little Hope hasnt developed the muscles to eat properly or may now be too weak. We say this as she strikes, coils, puts the pinkie in her mouth but wont swallow.
So 18hours later she has so far kept the pinkie heads down. She is still in her warm hide digesting.
The next week or so are so important for her now. If we hadnt forced the pinkies down her life would have been over within the next 2 weeks. We are now hoping she will keep them down and soon begin to feed on her own.
I will get some pics of her soon and keep you all updated of Hopes fight for life
lol
I hope that she will keep trying to feed and soon be strong enough to feed herself. I know its a little differant but once i had to hand rear a baby rabbit after its mother left it out of her hutch. When i found her she was cold, tiny and had no fur and even after the vet said there was no hope i hand feed her and basicly had to force drips into her mouth but against all the odds she survived. So i hope in this you find some hope and that your little Hope will keep fighting. 
