Posted by:
FittleLoot
at Sat Mar 7 00:55:52 2009 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by FittleLoot ]
I really really appreciate your response.
The cage is actually a plastic 18" x 12" x 6 1/2" (maximized floorspace for lots of burrowing room and a large temp gradient). The top didn't actually come off so much as the six foot topple broke the cage. I've been long considering a strong plexiglass cage, and this pretty much cinched it. He is now in one of his old cages, with a lot of his previous substrate (from the one that broke, as there were no fragments that got free in to it) and all his hides so the whole thing smells as similar as I can get it. (He is, however, double caged now and sitting on the floor. It's officially impossible to get to him if you don't have strength and opposable thumbs. Hopefully I'm the only one with both of those things in the house.)
He was immediately given a very thorough examination. Physically, he's perfectly okay. I'm fairly sure his defense mechanism actually saved him from the cat. If he stopped moving, she'd get quite bored and leave him alone. This is pure postulation, of course. I do, know, however, that he is quite intact.
Its been a little over two months now, and he was 28g before the incident, and has reduced to 22g. My perception of what's bad weight loss could easily be skewed due to the fact that I have the most experience with Uromastyx, a species that should never go down more than a gram or so in weight when they're young.
I'm sure the hognose is parasite free. All my reptiles have a vet appt with an experienced herp vet every six months, and the carnivores/insectivores are checked for parasites that often (herbivores once a year).
The anole tail was used because it was the only thing that I felt confident in getting down his throat easily. I've got a good amount of experience getting meds in to lizards being rehabbed with something very narrow, but had no notion that I would be capable of getting anything different down him. I was worried enough that it hadn't occurred to me how intensely stupid it was to use a non-rodent. It does now!
Pry was probably the wrong verb for me to use. What I used is impossible to get a paper cut from. It was a heavy weight hand pressed unbleached piece of watercolor paper (which can get quite wet, but won't get flimsy, break apart, or release chemicals). I just slipped the edge into the slit of his jaw and wiggled enough to be annoying until he opened to get the wiggling to stop and to readjust.
I definitely meant frog, and not toad. What I offered was a little Rana sylvatica.
I've been offering pinks every four days, in general. I can totally back that up to a week, though.
I will absolutely purchase a specula and a pinky pump, and if its okay to continue waiting and offering and not being truly worried, that's wonderful. I would love to not have to use them.
The mention of potential euthanasia was for way in the future, just to prepare my brain if it was a significant possibility of it exponentially going downhill. Or if they had a tendency to do this as little guys.
His skin isn't loose, but he has visibly gone from a happy plump little guy to a lean, although not emaciated, snake. (The photo is from the first day I had him. I just took a shot as I slipped him in his cage for the first time.)
I have never seen a hoggy in blue, and the scale type is totally unfamiliar to me, so that could be a possibility. He has water available to soak in, but should I offer a wet hide just in case? I have read that they're sensitive to humidity, ergo me asking. I've never seen him in his water.
I really appreciate you taking the time to answer all of this. I do hope I've answered everything. If I missed anything, please let me know.
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RE: Force Feeding Young Hoggy - FittleLoot, Sat Mar 7 00:55:52 2009
