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  1. #1
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    Halp! Typical but Not Normal Eating Problems

    So my hognose won't eat. Shocking! I know! But the normal solutions don't seem to be helping. Let's go over my little girls history.

    Little Andromeda was born July 28th, 2018, breed by one of the employees at an exotic pet store. She ate a pinky for her first ever meal. However, when I was inquiring about her, he said that she had not ate since she was brought to the store. I assumed it was because of the crappy conditions they had her in (Not super terrible, but she was in one of those little plastic expo containers with a locked sliding top. I doubt the temp was correct). So I figure with the proper husbandry, I could get her eating. So after her not taking a few meals, I decided to try the good old tuna trick. It worked! She ate a f/t pinky that had some tuna juice on it. So I tried that next time too, but she didn't take it. She never has taken tuna scented again. She has only ate twice to this day. (Over 2 months old, 7 grams. Not losing weight yet.) I've tried giving her just straight tuna chunks. I tried scenting with a frog. Yesterday I tried giving her a frog leg. I was really hopeful of this because it's their natural food:

    http://prntscr.com/l2y6v6

    I decided to feed her inside of a separate, small container so that she could definitely find it. And on top of that, whenever I prompt her with food inside of her tub, she tends to just run away, not interested in the food, which also happened with the frog leg. I also left the frog leg in her tub overnight and nothing. I had bought some salmon and sardines but have yet to try scenting with those. Also not hopeful since the frog leg didn't work.

    Let's go over husbandry: shallow tub with aspen shavings as substrate. Tried paper towels for a week but that didn't seem to help. She has 2 half toilet paper rolls as hides, a water dish, a small leaf to hide under (She never really uses her hides and just burrows into the substrate). I have a UTH under the tub and a thermometer set to 90 degrees F. This is a +/- 2 degrees thermometer so it will kick on at 88 and turn off at 92. Ambient temperature in the room is 78 degrees.

    http://prntscr.com/l2yb99

    The only thing that I know of that I could improve is lowering the humidity. Typically is about 40-50% in the room.

    If anyone could give me any information on how to get this girly to start eating, I would really appreciate it!!!

  2. #2
    Bogertophis's Avatar
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    Her hides don't sound right to me: toilet paper rolls are open at each end & don't offer a snug feel to such a small snake. I think your snake is still too
    stressed after being at the store, & still cannot relax & feel safe...that's why she burrows into the substrate.

    Is her cage in a quiet location, without a lot of human or other pet activity? without tv & music (they feel bass notes very well as vibrations) or doors slamming?

    Are you feeding her only at night, in dim or no lighting? Have you been handling her at all? No handling of a new snake is best until they feed 3+ times easily
    for you at regular intervals; I know how tempting it is, also that for some snakes it won't matter...but for many, it does. They need to be "snakes" first, so the
    feeding instincts get well-established...nature did not design them to be domestic pets.

    Have you talked with the person you got her from? They might have other suggestions to offer.

  3. #3
    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Downsize to a 2.7 quart tub this is still too big for a 7 grams hatchling.
    Deborah Stewart


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