Chief Feeding

When the Neonate doesn't want to eat the mouse

I'm genuinely happy for anyone whose Neonates devour the mouse on the first feed.

However, it happens that not every Neonate eats the food animal presented. He drops it or throws it around the terrarium in a bad mood.

In my opinion, the main reason for this is that the mouse does not correspond to the natural food that a young Neonate is genetically imprinted on.

It also appears that the basic coloration of the neonate suggests a different habitat. Yellow Neonates are found in grassy landscapes, while red Neonatescan can be found at the edge of the forest..

So, it can be assumed that the young snakes are looking for different food.

A promising way to get Neonates to eat is to disguise the mouse as a chick.

The trick is to mask the thawed mouse with the down of a day-old chick.

A mouse prepared in this way is called a chief.

The chief should only be used if the previous feeding was unsuccessful.

If you try to hand the stuffed mouse right at the beginning, the down will stick to the Neonate and the chief will become a mouse again, combined with quite a mess.

My experience is that you should not skimp on the down.

I've seen Neonates not snap and eat until the mouse is completely covered in down.

But often it is enough if the down covers the head.

Refreezing unused down is not recommended.

In my opinion, there is a risk that bacteria will settle in the down and harm the Neonate.