hognose question

I got my male hognose at the last dixie reptile show a couple weeks ago and he has been doing great up until last night. The night before last while I was in my snake room cleaning tubs a friend walked in the room and took upon himself to take the hoggie out and then ask if it was ok after he already had him out and before i could say you might not want to he is kinda wiggly boy genius dropped him and he fell about 1 1/2' - 2' on top of a rack. Last night when I tried to feed him instead of just grabbing the pinkie like he normally does he swelled up and started hissing and striking. Despite the fact that I was really impressed by how tough he was acting, I was really worried too. Is it possible that the fall could have injured him and that was why he was acting defensive or was he just letting me know he wasn't having it tonight. All the temps and humidity are correct in his tub and I have a temp gun to check it regularly. Oh yeah, he is about 7-8 inches long and I haven't got a weight on him yet. Please tell me what you guys think so I can get some sleep tonight.

I doubt the fall is responsible for the change in behavior. Bluffing is just the Hoggie way. My Hoggie used to hiss all the time, now she mostly just hisses at her food. If she hisses at me, I lay my hand flat below her head level, and she's normally quick to come over and climb on my hand. Then I just scoop her up and she's just fine. If she does it to food, I just avoid swinging it around and hold it still till she grabs it. You might even find just putting it down and leaving it works too.
Double check for injuries, especially kinks that might mean something bad happened in the fall. I doubt that's the reason behind his sudden mood swings though!

Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better about the whole situation. I've been stressed ever since he took that fall.

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Originally Posted by brettsemrick

Last night when I tried to feed him instead of just grabbing the pinkie like he normally does he swelled up and started hissing and striking.

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Sounds normal to me! He may need a few more days to get over his fall, i'd give another day or two before trying to feed him

My hoggie dose this, not to a great extent, and oddly enough only at prekilled, live new born rats... he just sneaks up on them and gobbles them down. But he puts on a dog and pony show when I dangle a pre killed for him. Infact last night he even flattened out his neck a tad cobra style. As long as he is still eating normaly, deficating like normal and the husbandry is fine then you have no worries.

He probably didn't get injured in the fall. But what's the latest on your hognose? :)