Good news!

[d_virginiana]

Over Thanksgiving I finally got Houdini (my blind adult) to take food from hand again! I'd been getting sort of worried. After he stopped taking food from hand, my mother had been chopping fish and putting them in a small dish inside his tank for him to eat. He was eating, but nowhere near the amount that he would eat before, and starting to get a little thin for my liking. I think it was mostly because he's not overly fond of scavenging not-completely-fresh fish bits from a dish. A separate feeding tank is also out of the question, as he has a massive freak-out whenever he's put down in an unfamiliar place or even when something in his tank is moved around. I think a lot of this weird behavior is because he lost his sight relatively quickly, over a span of just a couple months and he's still not sure how to make up for it?

Anyways, it took about twenty minutes of working with a single half-worm, but I finally got a technique down, and he's eating from hand again! It's pretty tricky to walk that line between getting him interested in the food and startling him, but I'm hoping he'll get used to it. Even just over Thanksgiving break he was starting to gain a bit of weight back, so I'm hoping I'll be able to teach my mom how to do it over Christmas. She doesn't really like snakes as pets, but she's very patient with trying to care for mine when I'm not able to.

[EasternGirl]

That is great news...I'm glad to hear he is gaining weight too. That is really wonderful that your mom is willing to do that for you.

[d_virginiana]

That is great news...I'm glad to hear he is gaining weight too. That is really wonderful that your mom is willing to do that for you.

Yeah, he's an old man so I get paranoid about his health.

Watching my mother feed the snakes is a wonderful form of entertainment. She's used to Houdini, who has never in his life EVER refused to eat (I once took him out, fed him three minnows, and put him back into his tank where he immediately started to rub against things and shed) so Harley, who has more normal eating habits confuses her a LOT. I've gotten several very worried phone calls because Harley has gone THREE whole days without wanting food.

[katach]

Great news Lora! Do you think he can still see little or, is his vision gone all together now. Glad he is eating normally again!

[EasternGirl]

If I can ever get my mother to feed my snakes I will throw a parade in her honor...lol!

[chris-uk]

Good news indeed. Getting people to feed the cat if we go away is never a problem, I think if we were away for weeks and needed someone to feed the snakes we'd be more limited.

[EasternGirl]

I know! I went to the beach for the weekend last summer and I ended up putting Cee Cee and Seely in a plastic turtle habitat and taking them on the trip with me! I didn't have anyone to watch them for me and Cee Cee was in the middle of her stillborn trouble. I have no idea what I would do if I was going somewhere in which I could not take them with me...how funny is that...I took my snakes on vacation??

[katach]

I would too if I didn't have anyone to come feed them. Luckily my mom and or my friend would be willing to do that. They would even come snuggle them if I asked.