Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Great Basin Gopher hasn't eaten for more than about 5 weeks, and I am worried with October drawing so near. She appears to have some self inflicted injuries caused by the incessant digging, and other attempts to break out of her cage. She was not interested in food at all during this time, although she seemed to be moving around at the normal times of day. Now I am worried because her mouth/nose doesn't look right, and she was making the low hissing sound while exhaling when I was checking her out, and taking pictures of her today. She doesn't appear to have mouth rot, but whatever is going on, the timing couldn't have been much worse, if she doesn't end up eating before October... I'm still thinking about building a bigger cage for her, but I hope it's not too little too late...

Just putting this out there, cause I know I should be trying to get her off of live mice, but when I've tried, I haven't had much luck, and it's frustrating. She is wild caught. I understand now, why captive snakes should not be fed live animals. The first few times that we fed her, she was an awesome hunter, and great at minimizing struggle. One time, we put two mice in with her, and she got both of them without us even seeing her. She was hiding out of sight at least a foot away from where the mouse was on a branch, and all of a sudden, it looked like the mouse fell from the branch, and after falling, it looked like it leaped again over to where the snake was hiding, but then we realized that it must have been that she hit that mouse, and then when it fell, it struck, and successfully yanked it into it's hiding place. She waited for the second mouse to get closer, so we never saw her then either.

But ever since she first started eating again this Spring, she is terrible at it. I guess it keeps them sharp in the wild when they miss, and don't get a second chance, and plus, they have to deal with mice (or other prey) that are more keen... Just a thought..., but she has also sustained an injury from struggling with a live mouse, and didn't eat for a little while after that... The injury has since healed...

Here are current pictures: I don't see any secretions but could this be mouth rot???

You need to get that snake to a vet pronto! There are a number of reasons why your snake could be acting the way it is. You need to supply us with more information. What size cage? What temps? Any hides? What substrate are you using? Are you feeding it small enough prey in proportion to it's size? Keep us posted.

Doesn't appear to be mouth rot, just a bad case of nose rubbing to the point of the rostral scale being almost gone. I'm not sure what your enclosure is, but usually that behavior is a sign of nervousness(aside from breeding season, when high levels of activity occur) that is usually alleviated by providing a hiding place. There are some that seem to do that constantly though. I'm not sure what her weight is like, but you definitely don't want to hibernate her if she is thin.

I am looking into seeing a vet, but I don't want go to a vet without finding references or something... I may have found one though, and I will probably be taking her there very shortly.

As for her cage, I do think she may have outgrown it, but then again, I do seem to remember that she was doing some of the same things last year around this time, but it wasn't so bad, and she didn't get hurt doing it.

Her cage has a very natural type set up, with many rocks covering the floor of the cage, with pretty much dirt (more like wood chip ground covering though, underneath that.

I usually go with the small mice I find at Petco, and those are smaller than she is around...

Anywho, anybody know of a good herp vet in Las Vegas, or a way to find one???

I would definitely put your snake in a longer cage, maybe flip that cage on it's side.

I hope to build an enclosure big enough for some kind of tree or shrub to go along with all the other stuff that she tends to climb on that will also give her more floor space as well...

The wheels are turning...

I am very sorry to hear about your gopher, but there is still time to figure it out bro1

The nose does look like it has been rubbed big time. How hot is her cage? What exact temps? From my experience, pits don't do too well in extreme temps. I keep mine at 78-82 at the very most.

Also, that is a cool cage! Great job!

Is she able to be completely hidden in her cage, like a good hide box or something similar? Sometimes when snakes don't feel secure due to a decent hidebox, they get nervous and are all over the place.

Keep us posted! I wish for the best!
Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Her favorite hiding spot is that black pot there in the center of the cage, but she has always been able to totally hide in several different ways under those rocks!!! The way they are set up, it's like a total underground maze...

I have good news though... I had thought before that she was getting ready to shed, but nothing had happened..., and as you know, she had just been sitting around for more than a week in that pot... I just went to look, and she was out and about (it's early in the morning), and she has just shed. She looks great now!!!

I'll be bringing home a couple of small mice in a couple of days, and everything should be dandy..., I'm hoping... (fingers crossed)

Also, there's killer privacy inside of that concrete brick there in the bottom half that's covered by that big rock...

Temp regulation could be better..., but that is a fan by the way in the center of the cage there... it's exhaust...

After reading all the other posts, I had the following thoughts.

1. why are you feeding live prey it is really dangerous for the snake, in particular if you are going to feed live at least stay and make sure the mouse does not attack the snake. About 15 years ago my dad gave me a baby Burmese python that was a very agressive feeder. I stunned a mouse ( thought I had killed it ), put it in the cage. When I returned from a date the mouse had come back to and eaten out the side of the snake and three ribs or a very healthy baby burmese. I have never forgotten that lesson.

2. Second thought I agree with scottish until you have the time and funds to build a new cage put that cage on its side for her.

3. Get some triple sulfa ointment and put it on the rostral and it will help heal the wound quicker.

Good Luck,

John Cherry II
Cherryville Farms