Hand Feeding your Baby
There are a couple of things to do when hand feeding your baby. If you plan to continue doing this once it is home with you, it is essential that you are consistent. Even as an adult, I hand feed mine a bite or two every time I feed them. I then drop the tray of food in for them to finish up. In doing this, it continues to reinforce and work on the good habits you want it to have. They may occasionally miss and get part of your finger, but if they are used to eating from your hand, they should not clamp down hard and will quickly release for you.
Positioning is the most important thing to remember when hand feeding a baby. I use one of two approaches. The food is either put on two fingers and offered to them facing upwards, or, in the case of a biter, I may use the pinch method. If you use the two finger method and you see they are headed away from the food, its easy enough to move so they get it rather than your finger. Take a look at the photos for examples of these two methods.
As an adult, if they are used to hand feeding, you should be able to hold solid food, such as a piece of liver or chicken, between your thumb and forefinger and simply offer it to your skink. I don't recommend this for a baby since they can still be a bit snappy and have more of a tendency to get you, especially given the fact that their food is mushier and cut up into smaller pieces. They can be trained to be very gentle when accepting food if you work with them. Be careful giving them live or favorite foods though. Regardless of how much you feed them, they can quickly become excited if the food is moving about and can easily miss and get you. Remember that they tend to bite down pretty hard when they know their prey can get away.
Good luck and enjoy feeding your skink. If you have trouble, let me know. I'm happy to help you through the process.
Positioning is the most important thing to remember when hand feeding a baby. I use one of two approaches. The food is either put on two fingers and offered to them facing upwards, or, in the case of a biter, I may use the pinch method. If you use the two finger method and you see they are headed away from the food, its easy enough to move so they get it rather than your finger. Take a look at the photos for examples of these two methods.
As an adult, if they are used to hand feeding, you should be able to hold solid food, such as a piece of liver or chicken, between your thumb and forefinger and simply offer it to your skink. I don't recommend this for a baby since they can still be a bit snappy and have more of a tendency to get you, especially given the fact that their food is mushier and cut up into smaller pieces. They can be trained to be very gentle when accepting food if you work with them. Be careful giving them live or favorite foods though. Regardless of how much you feed them, they can quickly become excited if the food is moving about and can easily miss and get you. Remember that they tend to bite down pretty hard when they know their prey can get away.
Good luck and enjoy feeding your skink. If you have trouble, let me know. I'm happy to help you through the process.