w. hognose feedign problems and ball python humidity queston

just a videio should explain it all, male hognose has not eaten in so long i can't remember the last time he ate... i have tried rats/mice, frogs, toads, salamanders, fish, scented of all the above, live/prekilled/frozen/thawed, fresh/decaying other than force feeding which i can't do never done it before, may have to have someone help me with that i'm running out of options i'm even lookign for another het albino male to replace him just incase, used to eat 2 rat pups a week, then 1 full mouse a week till i went on vacation last year in july and went off food for a few months and back on then off again permanantly just hisses and strikes seems petrified at everything, thought about putting him on sand but that wont help the feeding issue, he's got aspen usually burrrowed just fine not out very often i have tried feeding in cage out, small environment large, just him and prey, and with furnishings, on heat, off heat... running out of ideas

When did he go off feed exactly? You said he went off then started again but is off again now?
What are the temps at currently?
It's very possible that he is simply shutting down for the winter, many snakes do regardless of whether they actually experience temperature drops or not. If he is other wise healthy and has not been losing weight I would not worry about it for a while yet.
My king snakes are all brumating right now and have not eaten since October... and likely wont start eating again till march.

David,

The last time he ate, did he keep the meal down ?

If you have to resort to force feeding, I'd recommend a pinkie pump.

exactly i dont know but i'm having troubles remembering the last time he ate so it's been a long time, his temps have been changed i've tried 80's 70's and 90's to try to spark feeding, currently they're the same as everyone elses, mid 80's to 90's it was before summer the last time he ate though i'm guessing 4-5 months but possibly more, honestly can't remember the last time he actually fed.

larry : yes i've never had a regurge off anything other than baby cornsnakes i've gotten at the shows that didn't make it, he's always kept it down and usually a pig, just i can noticeably see weight loss now he looks so small not like the baby hognose i got off scott, so sides aren't sunken in or anything but he's pretty thin.....

he must be shut down or not wanting to eat cause as long as it's been he should be dead by now if he was sick .... i dont think he's eaten since april or maybe longer...he's just so aggressive i can't even pin him or anything to force feed, hence why i said i'd have to have help with it ..

hmmm... Well give us a very detailed description of his set up.
feeding problems usually stem from something they are not happy with in their environment...
given that you have changed it around a lot recently that will complicate things a bit more but if we know exactly how everything is right now there might be something that raises a red flag.

When he did stop eating how long did you wait before trying any of the methods you mentioned?

the video shows his main setup, usually aspen, has a hide rock and a water bowl always has been the same..... only time he is outside it is feeding, and yes i've tried feedign in the enclosure i've tried paper towells, (so therefore more heat) and aspen varying depths, the changes iv'e made have been over the course of months not being changed every week, if anyone recalls i've been inquiring about this for months last time he went off feed was last year in july, but started again after a month or two after a shed, but this time has to have been since alteas april or longer cause i remember talking about him not eating at the first show this year and then was a few weeks or months.


he is a very aggressive snake though, even the slightest vibration in the room he's hissing, or if he sees anyone/anythign he's hissing, i've tried covering the cage so nothing will bother him, but sounds/vibrations seem to get him going more than anything.

possible the location of the enclosure is in too active a location? just a thought. Has he lost weight? You mentioned he looked thin so I'm gonna guess that's a yes. Try putting black construction paper or something on three sides of his enclosure as well. Try putting him into a very small tub or large deli with a live food item where he cant ignore it. Try dipping the item in chicken broth. BE CAREFUL! Snakes can go psycho when they smell this. Try using a hair dryer on the FT to raise its temp before offering it. Last try taking a fecal smear to Doc Minson.

David,

Based on what you've said, what I saw in the video and what you've done, IMO it's

not you, it's the snake.

If you want to mess with it, I'd get a pinkie pump and force feed him.

It sounds like you've tried about all of the options.

Otherwise, I'd just continue to offer him food about once a week and see what

happens.

At some point he may resume eating on his own.

If not, you probably would not want to use him as breeder anyway.

My 2 cents.

Snakeman wrote:David,

Based on what you've said, what I saw in the video and what you've done, IMO it's

not you, it's the snake.

If you want to mess with it, I'd get a pinkie pump and force feed him.

It sounds like you've tried about all of the options.

Otherwise, I'd just continue to offer him food about once a week and see what

happens.

At some point he may resume eating on his own.

If not, you probably would not want to use him as breeder anyway.

My 2 cents.

well ty larry, he's still pissy and active so i guess i wont worry till he stops that, just hate it loosing a rat pup every week trying to feed him cause by the time i know he doesn't eat it's too old to feed to someone else.....

corn i think is wanting 2 mice per week not just the 1 she's always still hungry still got the sniffles, gonig back to the ved monday i think but it hasn't gotten any worse just not any better either.

"well ty larry, he's still pissy and active so i guess i wont worry till he stops that, just hate it loosing a rat pup every week trying to feed him cause by the time i know he doesn't eat it's too old to feed to someone else....."



That's probably just as well because just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't cross feed

any food item that's been in his cage to another herp.



"corn i think is wanting 2 mice per week not just the 1 she's always still hungry still got the sniffles, gonig back to the ved monday i think but it hasn't gotten any worse just not any better either.."



That's really weird, but I'm really glad she continues to have such a good appetite.

Snakeman wrote:"well ty larry, he's still pissy and active so i guess i wont worry till he stops that, just hate it loosing a rat pup every week trying to feed him cause by the time i know he doesn't eat it's too old to feed to someone else....."



That's probably just as well because just to be on the safe side, I wouldn't cross feed

any food item that's been in his cage to another herp.



"corn i think is wanting 2 mice per week not just the 1 she's always still hungry still got the sniffles, gonig back to the ved monday i think but it hasn't gotten any worse just not any better either.."



That's really weird, but I'm really glad she continues to have such a good appetite.

yeah she tagged me lastnight when i was getting her water changed out then freaked out like OOPS that's not food and then started tryign to climb up my arm like i'm sorry lol so i guess she was still hungry may try feeding her another one tomarrow or something

"then started tryign to climb up my arm like i'm sorry lol "

he is a het albino, how old is it? Was the breeding an incest breeding or an unrelated pair? The reason I ask is that when the albinos first came out this happened a lot with the offspring. Otherwise healthy snakes stopped eating and wasted away. It is possible that if it is healthy enough to brumate it may reset its clock and it would start eating again, but i would think you would have tried that already. Also, if movement is really bothering it you may check for eye caps, it could be freaking out if for all intents and purposes it is blind.

I was wondering the same thing about being winter with my hognose. He just quit eating the last two weeks I tried to feed. In the short time I have had him he has always been more than willing to eat until now. He just hisses at it when I try to shake it up around his nose. He is still very active in his tank and I can still get him out so I weighed him the first week he refused food so I can monitor his wieght and know when to start worring. I was thinking about trying every two weeks to feed him so I don't waste money too.

JZachary wrote:he is a het albino, how old is it? Was the breeding an incest breeding or an unrelated pair? The reason I ask is that when the albinos first came out this happened a lot with the offspring. Otherwise healthy snakes stopped eating and wasted away. It is possible that if it is healthy enough to brumate it may reset its clock and it would start eating again, but i would think you would have tried that already. Also, if movement is really bothering it you may check for eye caps, it could be freaking out if for all intents and purposes it is blind.

Yah he's het albino. Got him early last year and he was already over 55g. So I'm guessing he's all of 2 by now. That room with this cold is getting down to 60's. So I guess I could put him without heat for a few weeks. And then put him back on and see if that kicks him back up.

He's def not blind. Can see me very well. And has never had a bad shed. Was never a hissed or anything much. He would hiss then oh food and shut up and eat. But now that's all he does. Buy he can track me very well and can see me as well. Was never bad at eating till I went away or 2 weeks last year in July. Came back he wouldn't eat about 2 weeks later he shed. And didn't eat for a month then was always on/off since then. But around the first of the year he went off again.

not too sure if i should try brumation with him not eating for a while but any way to do it other than getting a very cold room? i'm told needs to drop to 50's, but that room stays at 60's usually mid-high since i have no heater should i just pull it off heat for a few days let it get to room temp and slowly move it lower to the room till he's dropped to lower 60's then into a room without heat?

If you could just let his heat go off and do a mini brumation you could test to see if it resets him. I wouldn't leave him down for more than a month at this point. The other problem you might have is that if it hasn't eaten since April if you force it, it may die. I am not sure what condition causes this exactly but i think it has to do with the lack of ability to digest or convert it to fat reserves. I have it happen once or twice with animals that went off food that i force fed.

JZachary wrote:If you could just let his heat go off and do a mini brumation you could test to see if it resets him. I wouldn't leave him down for more than a month at this point. The other problem you might have is that if it hasn't eaten since April if you force it, it may die. I am not sure what condition causes this exactly but i think it has to do with the lack of ability to digest or convert it to fat reserves. I have it happen once or twice with animals that went off food that i force fed.

he is probably used to goign down for brumation , so i will take him off his heat and let him go to room temp which will be low 60's at night to mid 60's in the day should be good enough?

Male het albino hognose, after going off feed since april finally ate, was a tiny fuzzy but he ate none the less.
edit: he ate again so 2 fuzzy's/ big pinkies yaaay

That's great !

Tandy

did you do the temp change or did it just start eating out of the blue? either way grats on it feeding again.

JZachary wrote:did you do the temp change or did it just start eating out of the blue? either way grats on it feeding again.

i dont know if it was a size issue wiht the tiny prey, or being off heat for a few weeks and put back on or he just got tired of it all, but if he'll go to eating 2 fuzzy's each week i can work with that.

I'm hoping mine will start eating agian soon. He's still real active so I will wait and see if he starts dropping weight before I get to worried.

2 feedings in a row, oooh yeah oooh yeah mmmm mmm mm