Caring for struggling hatchling

Pythons Ball Pythons
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So, how long is it viable to have to provide extensive car for a hatchling that was dealt with some genetic issues.
This hatchling was born on July 21st, and is sitting at 51 grams.

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I’ve had to force feed it 5 times now; trying to do live meals in between without any luck at all. Her color is very off of what it should be; the pairing was a ghi hypo to a mojo lesser bumblebee. She has no eyes, and has a pretty severe wobble. She still sheds and has bowel movements, as she just shed last week.

Any advice or similar experiences that anyones dealt with?

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I would personally humanely euthanize that hatchling. Seems to have to many issues to thrive in captivity.

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What’s the best method for going about doing that? I’ve tried to research into it only to find a lot of mixed answers. I agree that would likely be my best option. If I was able to get her to eat freely on her own; I had considered making her a pet only to stay with me. But it’s not looking likely

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Snakes with no eyes can survive with a quality of life. The wobble could be from the stress in general. It could be possible to get the snake to eat if it’s not stressed. Can you add a picture of the enclosure with temperatures and humidity? If you add lots of decoration and cover she might eat on her own, but it’s unlikely. It might just be best to euthanize, and if the snake doesn’t end up eating readily and improve she will likely need euthanized anyways.

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Considering it was born almost 5 months ago I don’t think it’s realistic to expect it to start eating. I think there is probably a lot of other unseen issues the snake has as well.

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I understand that - which is part of why I’m asking. How is the best method to humanely euthanize a hatchling?

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Here is a discussion on culling hatchlings.

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If the enclosure it’s in could result in stress I think it’s possible, but unlikely, to get the snake eating again. If it were me I’d try a few more things before euthanizing.
@nswilkerson1, it’s up to you if you want to euthanize or try a few more things first (I don’t blame you if you decide to euthanize). I think it’s unlikely to work and it would take time but there’s a small chance of it working.

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Pretty sure it hasn’t ate on its own. That’s the impression I had.

I don’t think is honestly any chance of eating on its own. Unfortunately when you breed these things can and do happen. Ultimately you have to know when to make the choice. They can’t all be saved unfortunately.

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You’re right, I just misspoke.
If the snake is in a clear tub, being able to see out might be stressing it out enough that it won’t eat. The exact opposite could be true if it’s in an opaque tub. If it feels too open it could be stressed, the exact opposite could happen if there’s too many decorations. Each snake is different and has different preferences.

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Correct. It has not taken one meal on its own. It’s only been force fed, and had no interest with meals. It’s in a rack setting identical to its siblings. It’s a csserpants 6qt hatchling rack. Water bowl, and reptichil bedding.
I think at this point, euthanasia is the correct thing to do.
@saleengrinch thanks for the link to the discussion, I’ll do some reading on it.

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True but this snake has very obvious major issues and probably some less obvious. And has not taken a single meal in 5 months.

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I think that’s totally fine. In the wild this snake would already be dead, the best we can do is force the snake to survive in hopes it will eat on it’s own. If, after this long, it still doesn’t have a quality of life I think euthanasia is appropriate.

I agree, if they were going to keep this snake as a pet then getting it to eat on its own might give the snake a quality of life. It would still be unlikely to work and euthanasia is a good choice.

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I would say that overall the snake didn’t fully develop, so apart from the visual issues with coloration being off, and no eye, there’s likely some internal or other neurological issues that I’m not aware of.

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I would agree. How was the rest of the clutch? If it was incubation you would probably of had other issues. If the rest of the clutch is fine this one just didn’t develop properly. Unfortunately it happens. I have had to euthanize my own hatchlings and it’s not fun. But sometimes it’s for the best.

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This clutch had a temp spike for a few days during the first week. One clutchmate has one eye and a very minor kink , but otherwise is healthy and eating great at around 160g. The other 3 (5 eggs total) are perfectly healthy and around 160g

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Well then I’m sure it was an incubation problem which unfortunately may of affected it internally as well. Tough break man I’ve been there.

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For reference, here was the clutch after they came out of their eggs before the first shed.

The one up front that’s very pale is the one discussed in this post, the others all appear much better and are healthy and thriving

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May I ask if you cut the eggs?

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I did, and I have beat myself up over it with this clutch. The first two clutches I had, no issues; but this one showed some issues.
This season; I won’t be cutting any, I’ve done a lot of research into it and decided I’ll just let nature take its course. I went by the decision to cut based on quite a few YouTubers that I had watched doing it with every clutch.

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