Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is the first Hognose I've ever owned, so I'm not familiar with little details that may be common for them and not other snakes. My girl constantly looks like she is swallowing. That sounds weird, but it looks similar to hour people swallow regularly; the muscles just behind her head move and her head bobs a bit. She seems totally healthy other than that, and it might be normal, I don't know. If it is an issue I want to correct it, but also if it's normal then I don't want to bring her to the vet or anything and get a bill for him to tell me nothing is wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Can you post a video of what she's doing? Might be helpful to see it in action.

Sorry about the delay. I've been having problems recording but I finally did it. Here's the video. Now we opened her mouth up and saw nothing goopy or stringy. She looked clean.

I put the video in as a youtube link. Let me know if it works or not.

Take it to the vet, So what if its nothing.

Its head is raised, its neck may be inflated. and its swallowing. There are two important possibilities.
1. Upper R.I. and 2. Lower which would be worse, in the lungs.

I can tell you several ways to indicate something is wrong, but I think its best if a vet(decent herp vet) sees that animal.

Holding the snake head down and listening. If when it breathes it sounds like crinkling wax paper, ITs Lower or in the lungs. If you tilt it head down and fluid comes out of its mouth or when you put it back down, it lifts its head up and does that again, its URI.

No offense, if you are in doubt now, its best you do a vet visit. At the visit, talk to the vet and have him explain symptoms that way, next time, you will have a better understanding. Best wishes

Heather, is this the same snake you were describing in Dec about "Hognose moving on its side"? If this is the same snake, it might be neurological or some birth defect. Is it weezing at all? See any thing what so ever coming from the nose?

Did you notice when she last fed was there any possibility of substrate ingestion? I see you keep him in Aspen, could a part of that be stuck in her?

I know vet bills can get expensive and you don't want to spend any more than you have to. You might not have any other choice though.

If she's feeding, that's a good sign.

It is the same snake. She's not wheezing or anything, and I always keep an eye on her while she eats and she hasn't ingested any. That's basically why I'm here. Everything else seems totally fine, so I don't know what's up with her. I've asked a few more people and I'm waiting on answers, but if they don't know the cause then I'm definitely going to bring her to the vet. It's kind of hard because my aunt would have to bring me and she's insisting nothing is wrong. -_- Thanks so much for your help though.

Hey I understand your concern....it's a tough call!

If you do end up taking her to the Vet....let us know what it is/was? We all learn from others, this is a strange one.

Good Luck!

to swallow without actually swallowing something is not normal. Hogs are no different then any other snake.

If not drinking or swallowing something. Then it most likely means is has a respiratory infection. you know, fluid in the mouth.

First do what you first thought of, take the animal to a vet. Then look into your husbandry. Best wishes

Thanks for your input. We opened her mouth up and there is absolutely nothing in there. No goop or strings. She looks totally clean. =\ She's still acting healthy, and I tried to record it to post a video but of course she wouldn't do it then.