Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my w. hog decided to stop eating, which isn't a big deal. It's been 5 weeks since her last meal, I keep offering but she just wanders around her feeding box endlessly with no interest in food. Like I said, I'm not worried about it--she's been feeding pretty consistently for almost 2 years, and I wondered if this sudden loss of interest in eating could be because she wants to hibernate? I don't know that I have anyplace suitable to do so--our garage fluctuates quite a bit and the house is around 68. Anybody have any thoughts or suggestions? I'm going to weigh her today just so I know if she starts losing a lot of weight...
thanks for any input
Sue

>>my w. hog decided to stop eating, which isn't a big deal. It's been 5 weeks since her last meal, I keep offering but she just wanders around her feeding box endlessly with no interest in food.

Are you sure your snake is a female? That sounds more like normal breeding behavior of male snakes... for a few weeks they can go off feed and spend a large portion of time just restlessly searching for a female to hook up with.
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PHWyvern

yes, it's a female

If there is significant weight loss I would take her to a vet to check for parasites. My Eastern went Eastern did something similiar, and it ended up being parasites. Had his 2nd dose of antiparasitic today, and will get his final dose in 2 weeks. Managed to put 19 g back on him, but he is still under weight.
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Jenea

1:0 Eastern Hognose
0:0:1 Florida Redbelly Snake
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

no weight loss, she looks and acts fine, I don't think it would be parasites. I've had her for a couple years and she is CBB, only gets F/T and is kept on aspen, and no other herps around, so there's no opportunity to pick them up.

I agree that your snake has the ideal situation for not having parasites. But it's a misconception that CB are exempt from getting parasites. The point: if the snakes condition continues downhill, parasites cannot be ruled out, the chances of it having no parasites is really low. Parasites, just like bacteria, can be introduced in an infinite # of ways, and it depends largely on your level of sanitation.

Without any clearcut indicators, the reason for your hog's anorexia is a big fat "who knows". Good luck with it, and post back and let us know how things change.
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS

If there is a just God, how humanity would writhe in its attempt to justify its treatment of animals. - Isaac Asimov

While Colchi touched further on parasites, I would also point out that vets do more than test for parasites. I'm with you that there is no sense panicking, but it certainly would've been nice to have a weight from before the five week spell to compare too.

In essence, don't rush things, but don't wait too long to visit a vet too

Ian