Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i'm concerned about my Eastern Hognose. the other day, i was on the computer and glanced over at my Eastern's enclosure. he was sitting there coiled up with his head raised which is his normal resting posture. suddenly, he raised his head and neck completly straight up, vertical as if looking towards the ceiling. then he slightly opened his mouth and held it like that for several seconds. this was not a typical jaw stretching 'yawn' like alot of snakes do. i thought that he might be preparing to regurgitate, which he didn't(thank goodness!!). it was almost like he was having difficulty getting air or something. i've actually seen him do this 2 or 3 times and was wondering if anyone else has observed this type of behavior. should i be worried or not? he is a wild-caught snake and appears to be healthy otherwise. i heard someone say awhile back that the mortality rate for Easterns is high for both wild and captive born specimens. i really, really do not want to lose him! another question i have is this: is it better to feed Easterns scented mice with fur or without? can they get fur impaction in their intestines? this is something i've heard differing opinions on. Cory, if you're reading this, i'd appreciate some words of wisdom. you are THE man when it comes to Hognoses. thanks for any and all help!

greg

As you probably guessed, this one symptom alone is not easy to diagnose with any amount of certainty. Your intuition may be correct however, there may be a respiratory problem starting to manifest. But unless it starts to go off feed or you start to notice nasal discharge, there is not a lot to go on.

The high mortality you spoke of, can easily be corrected by getting the snake dewormed. A fecal float and the drugs are relatively cheap and safe to use so there is hardly a reason not to do it.

In all my years cleaning snake poop, I've never really see a difference between the hognoses I feed mice with hair, and any of the other snakes that are fed mice. NOBODY on this forum has reported a case of impaction, much less an impaction caused by mouse hair. Just because Easterns are "Bufo specialists" (which they are really not) does not mean that their entire organ systems are radically different from other colubrids!

PS- Are you coming to the VHS spring survey?
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

thanks, Cory! and yes, i'm planning on attending. i'll even try to bring the Hognose. i think you'll like him! i haven't had the privilege of seeing many Easterns in my life(live ones, anyway!) and i've got to admit he's rather colorful in his own way. lots of yellow and orange - his belly's almost completely yellowish-orange! i was reading somewhere recently - and i've never heard this before - that some people call them 'banana viper' or 'banana snake'. i can see why in this specimen. i also remember as a kid reading alot of books that called Hognoses an 'ugly snake'. well, he might not be attractive in a Scarlet King kind of way, but he's still cool-looking. you might remember my friend Mike at the meeting last fall. he has the melanistic phase. he says they have 'eyebrows'(LOL!) that make them look sinister, i guess like rattlers and other pit vipers. he calls his own snake the 'devil snake'. i do have some pictures of mine playing dead that i'll have to post on the forum soon. he's pretty much gotten out of that, though. but he still huffs and puffs and he's loud! if i get the opportunity this year, i'd like to do some traveling and herping. one place i want to go is the Outer Banks. the guy that i got my Hognose from caught one down there a year or so ago, but unfortunately, it didn't survive. the one i have was found crossing the road around midday early last fall in Amherst County. he was almost a road victim, but my other friend Ryan rescued him. i hope we have a good turnout at the survey. i'd like to get up your way sometime and see the museum. i haven't been to one of those in so long. i remember going to one in D.C. when i was a kid and it was amazing! well, thanks again, take care and i hope to see you in the spring!

greg