Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First he leaves his enclosure and is "waiting for me" to find him (see earlier post). This time I thought he was dead, stuck in his shed skin.

I found him motionless, at an odd angle against his water bowl, with half of his body shed skin inside out around his head. It looked as though he had shed from the tail towards the head, instead of the normal way. I quickly scooped him out of his cage, and his body felt like rigor had set in.

Investigating the odd shed, I pulled away the loose shed around his head, as well as his head shed. Suddenly he "sprang back to life" and was none too pleased with my assistance.

I can only assume that I caught him in the process of shedding, he felt vulnerable, and went into defensive a response. The interesting thing is that, unlike the NA hognose species, these guys have never done the feigning death thing--had concluded that they don't. So, my experience is interesting, to say the least!

He's had quite an interesting few days! I've never seen a malagasy feign death. He must have thought he was an eastern.....Glad to know he didn't escape!

BTW, have you had your speckled go off feed in the winter? Mine is giving me some trouble now, although he's maintaining his weight.
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1.0 Malagasy Giant Hognose
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
0.1 Guyana Red Tail Boa
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Black Milksnake
0.0.1 Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes)
0.0.1 Blue Tongue Skink

Mine slow down, but haven't stopped eating during this winter. They are not as active, so they are eating 5 f/t pink rats every 10-12 days, rather than every 5-7 days. In about another 4-6 weeks I hope that they will eat more, and then I will put them together and keep my fingers crossed--all three are finally well acclimated and robust.

regards,
althea