Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

I had a Giant Hognose..excellent eater,great disposition.Well last night I went to his enclosure and he was dead!!

While examining him,I noticed a mouth full of Newspaper..He had eaten it and it had lodged in his throat..

the newspaper was brand new and there had been no mice on it so I am at a loss.

I talked with Brett and he says he seems to remember a similar thread regarding this occurence..Any ideas
Thanks again for the help

My hunch is that is is still a scent issue possibly something in the process of making the newsprint. I have an ant colony that has a taste for Duct Tape must be something in it that smells good to the ants. The paper is in a soluable water solution maby there was a deaqd frog in that batch of water? I once found a garter snake trying to eat a toad that had been smashed flat by a car and baked by the sun. The toad was hard as a rock and stuck to the road. The garter snake had a foot in its mouth and would not give up.
-----
"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Neonates and youngsters can be notorious for such. Sometimes, this can be caused by the snake taking the newspaper due to scent transfer, but most of the time, I have found that the snake ingests the paper because it was stuck to the prey item, especially when feeding F/T, or the snake simply ingested a corner of the paper along with the prey.
It’s odd that you mentioned this, as I had to remove a piece of paper from the mouth of a young D. m rubidus a couple of days ago, as the F/T rodent had stuck to the paper towels I use for substrate.
I am very sorry to hear of your loss, it’s a really unpleasant way to find a specimen that was healthy and doing well.

Jeff
-----
Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Thanks Jeff,
He was beautiful and just a great animal..

But like I'd mentioned, his cage was cleaned and he had brand new newspaper.

Maybe he did not like being owned by me and saw no other options

At least he could've left a note!!!