Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, she is a small hatchling and has lost some weight recently. She hasn't eaten in about 2.5 months. I was going to use a pinkie pump but I didn't have young enough pinkies so they wouldn't liquify right.

I ended up using a cut-off mouse tail since they go in very easy. After getting it about halfway down her gullet she did the rest. I don't think this will offer her much sustenance, but I will give her a mouse tail every 5 days until the damn thing starts eatin again.

why not just let her hibernate? Its time for these guys to rest. No Heterodon is eating in December in the wild!
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Anthony Chodan

www.gradeareptiles.com

If its that tiny, and its lost weight, its a bad idea to let it brumate. It should be healthy and fat if it is going to go dormant for a while.

As the previous respondent said, I just didn't think it would be that wise to brumate a tiny little hatchling that hadn't put any weight on.

In fact, I rarely brumate hatchlings their first year. They usually never breed their first spring anyway, so this allows me to keep them well-fed and growing throughout the year. I brumate my snakes once they have reached a year of age.

certainly understand where you're coming from.

However, I have a few southerns and easterns that were getting thin and not feeding, so i now have them brumating at 58F. If you're keeping them warm, they will just waste away like Jungle Gem's hog in the post below. At least when they are brumating, they are not losing that weight and often come out of brumation with a hearty appetite!
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Anthony Chodan

www.gradeareptiles.com

...that my snake is "wasting away". If this were the case, I would have rushed her to Jerry LaBonde at Homstead Animal Hospital at the first presentation (I would freak out over a simple respiratory infection, much less a snake that is wasting away). As I stated in my post, she is a healthy weight and feeds regularly and shows no other signs of illness. I monitor each of my snakes very closely and am stringent on issues of health. I am simply concerned that she is showing decreased skin turgor on her tail, which could have a myriad of causes.

Since you are probably the most experienced person on this board with Eastern Hognose and "see it a lot", would you care to offer some useful information on the matter (corrective/preventative measures, etc.)?

Thanks.

Jennifer

I'm waiting for the "expert" to speak up as well. Let's hear what you have to say.

I have never seen a snake rebound totally from that pinched skin. Sometimes, I have fattened them up to get rid of it, only to succumb to it a few months down the road out of nowhere.

I am not sure what causes this, but I suspect stress...either from improper diet, parasites, or ??? I have seen that a lot in wc animals that were fed rodents.

The main thing is, that you have to catch it fast. I either start forcefeeding mousetails or brumate them (if it is after september).

I would recommend doing one of the above.

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Anthony Chodan

www.gradeareptiles.com

Best thing to do is to get the proper size pinkie and pump it. The best way to do this is to run the pinkie through the pump once and then pour it back in and then pump it. This way there is no sudden jolt that will shoot it into the snake too hard.