Hasn't eaten since January

[NYDragon]

Well the vet thought he was just slightly underweight too but not too bad. Jasper looked good otherwise and he couldn't find any mites. He gave him a dose of Panacur and metronidazole(sp?). Hopefully he does ok with this. I'll try and feed him Friday and see how it goes. I'm also worried because he hasn't shed since I got him. Not that I've noticed anyway and I'm pretty sure I would have. Any ideas on the lack of shedding?

[Hulihzack]

I would give Vin a call, I'm sure he'd have some valuable input.

[Gregg Madden]

He gave him a dose of Panacur and metronidazole(sp?).

This is exactly why my animals will never go to a vet...

How or why a vet would dose a reptile with worming meds and antibiotics without knowing if there is even a problem to be treated, is beyond my understanding... Most of the time these unnecessary doses of meds do more harm than good...

In all honesty, I think you could have avoided the vet bill because the vet pretty much told you what you already knew... Seriously, heat that animal up and make sure he is well hydrated and you will see a big turn-around...

[NYDragon]

Well so far so good. Not that its a guarantee on a vet knowing what they are doing, but he is on the herpvetconnection list. I wish I had been able to get a fecal sample to bring in for testing rather than just treating him though.

He actually shed tonight though First time since I've had him. I was quite excited. I ran around downstairs with him yelling "We have a shed" I did stick him back in some warm water and he drank a little. The shed was a little stuck on his tail so I helped him with that and then he was quite active. Hopefully he eats tomorrow. And I bumped those temps up a bit. Thanks for the advice on that.

[Skiploder]

Without making any assumptions about your set-up, I'm going to parrot the advice of others and offer some of my own:

You got this snake November and it ate for you twice. You also have him in a ten gallon tank. This is correct - no?

(1) As has been pointed out - bump his temps up. I keep my hognose at hotspot temps well above 90 degrees.

(2) Some male western hogs just aren't great eaters, however, in order to find out what type of eater your animal is you need to get those temps up.

(3) You need to weigh you animal on a regular basis. Eyeballing him and making guesstimates on his weight is futile. I've had male hoggies go off feed for three months and lose very little weight.

(4) The fact that he is not drinking and not eating could possibly indicate he is not secure. A 10 gallon glass tank is open on all four sides. While I am down to only one mexican now, in the past I have kept all my young male hoggies in shoebox or smaller sized tubs, enclosed on at least three sides. The partially stuck shed also is an indicator that he may be stressed.

(5) Westerns don't shed as much as other snakes. One time I did an average yearly shed count on my male nasicus and kennerlyi and figured out that they were shedding on an average of 4 to 5 times per year.

(6) What are you doing in the way of hides? Timid animals will often require more than just substrate to burrow in.

(7) Any Vet who prophylactically treats an animal for a disease he has not diagnosed is not one I would use in the future - regardless of who he was recommended by. Giving your animal panacur and flagyl without any symptoms other that going off feed (in winter) is something that would raise a definite red flag for me. Also, it puts the animal through needless stress.

(8) I would give him more security, privacy and heat. Spend a few bucks on a decent scale and see how much weight he loses during his fast. If making him feel more secure and warming him up don't help, and he's losing an unacceptable amount of weight - then you can start contemplating another vet visit.

[Lucas339]

id like to second some of what skip has said. i have a female that hasn't eatten sence nov 09. this is her routine and does it every year. unless the animal starts to look sick then its nothing to worry about. i have herd of fasting hogs from several different people.

[Gregg Madden]

i have herd of fasting hogs from several different people.

I think it has to do with the fact that many hognose keepers keep them like they do other North American colubrids... They require much more heat and dryer conditions... They also eat much more frequently than other colubrids...

I have 7 hogs at the moment... None of them ever miss a meal... The many I kept in the 90's never went off feed either... I am certain it has much to do with temps...

[Skiploder]

I think it has to do with the fact that many hognose keepers keep them like they do other North American colubrids... They require much more heat and dryer conditions... They also eat much more frequently than other colubrids...

I have 7 hogs at the moment... None of them ever miss a meal... The many I kept in the 90's never went off feed either... I am certain it has much to do with temps...

At one point I had 2 male nasicus and 4 females and 3 male kennerlyi and 3 females.

Every November, regardless of the fact that I did not brumate my hogs or change their enclousure temps, the majority of the juvenile and especially adult males would go off feed. I get the same behavior out of my other colubrids - especially the cribos.

Around February, the males would all be back on feed. While temperature plays a huge role in reptile mating and eating behaviors, I think it also has to do with the changes in barometric pressure. Barometric pressure has been shown to play a much larger role in reptile behavior than previously realized.........

[Gregg Madden]

While temperature plays a huge role in reptile mating and eating behaviors, I think it also has to do with the changes in barometric pressure. Barometric pressure has been shown to play a much larger role in reptile behavior than previously realized.........

This I agree with 100%... I know when I bred my gaboons would copulate when thunderstorms rolled through my area... I do believe it triggers breeding more than feeding... But, I would imagine that some localities would be affected by barometric pressure more so than others as far as feeding goes...

I guess maybe some bloodlines might be stronger feeders than others... My current stock is from Brad Chambers, Brent Bumgardner, and Clarles Shanklin... Like I said, I have had no problem feeders within my hog collections over the years either.

[NYDragon]

Without making any assumptions about your set-up, I'm going to parrot the advice of others and offer some of my own:

You got this snake November and it ate for you twice. You also have him in a ten gallon tank. This is correct - no?

(1) As has been pointed out - bump his temps up. I keep my hognose at hotspot temps well above 90 degrees.

(2) Some male western hogs just aren't great eaters, however, in order to find out what type of eater your animal is you need to get those temps up.

(3) You need to weigh you animal on a regular basis. Eyeballing him and making guesstimates on his weight is futile. I've had male hoggies go off feed for three months and lose very little weight.

(4) The fact that he is not drinking and not eating could possibly indicate he is not secure. A 10 gallon glass tank is open on all four sides. While I am down to only one mexican now, in the past I have kept all my young male hoggies in shoebox or smaller sized tubs, enclosed on at least three sides. The partially stuck shed also is an indicator that he may be stressed.

(5) Westerns don't shed as much as other snakes. One time I did an average yearly shed count on my male nasicus and kennerlyi and figured out that they were shedding on an average of 4 to 5 times per year.

(6) What are you doing in the way of hides? Timid animals will often require more than just substrate to burrow in.

(7) Any Vet who prophylactically treats an animal for a disease he has not diagnosed is not one I would use in the future - regardless of who he was recommended by. Giving your animal panacur and flagyl without any symptoms other that going off feed (in winter) is something that would raise a definite red flag for me. Also, it puts the animal through needless stress.

(8) I would give him more security, privacy and heat. Spend a few bucks on a decent scale and see how much weight he loses during his fast. If making him feel more secure and warming him up don't help, and he's losing an unacceptable amount of weight - then you can start contemplating another vet visit.

He has eaten probably 5-7 times since I've gotten him. And he is in a 10 gallon. I have three sides covered with foam board. He has two hides but rarely uses them. He just burrows down. I did notice he burrowed under the deli container last night so I'm going to get him some cork board to put near the bottom of the tank for him. Maybe he'll like that better.

I bumped the temps up to 90 give or take. But I think I'm going to up it by a few degrees more. Now that I think of it, he was eating better when the weather was warmer. Once the icky NY temps dropped to artic conditions he went off food.

He is drinking but when I had put him in some warm water he did take a few gulps. Not sure if he just decides the warm water would be really refreshing or what lol

Oh and he's a whopping 16 grams. I do have to buy a gram scale. And I agree that sometimes these "reptile" vets don't really know what they are doing. I should have stopped him but I was been so overwhelmed with so many things (snake and others) going on that I wasn't thinking. When I got home I was worried that this would be hard on his system.

He wouldn't eat again last night. I put the pinkie in his mouth and he just spit it out. Then I just left the pinkie in a deli and buried it in the substrate like someone suggested. But conveniently I found him burrowed beneath the the deli directly under the pinkie Hopefully another week at higher temps will encourage him to eat.

Here's a pic of him just for fun. He's too adorable.






Thanks for all the help guys! I really appreciate it!