Hi everyone,
I recently had a Western Hognose hatchling born with visible spinal kinks and possible deformities. It’s struggling to shed properly, and I’m really concerned about its overall health and quality of life. I understand that Hognose snakes can be a bit different compared to other species when it comes to care and development, so I wanted to reach out for advice.
Has anyone had experience successfully nursing a deformed or kinked Hognose hatchling back to health? I’m open to trying if there’s a reasonable chance of improvement, but I also want to be realistic and humane. If it’s unlikely the little one will thrive or live without significant suffering, I’d rather make the right call early.
Any insight, personal experience, or even tough truths are welcome—I just want to do what’s best for the animal.
Thanks in advance for your help.
*This is the only hatchling out of 9 eggs to come out like this. All the others came out perfectly healthy and shed just fine.
That level of kinking does not look compatible with life. Even if it were to survive, I don’t see it having a good quality of life. Best option is likely euthanasia.
I’ll tag in @ballornothing as he’s got far more experience than myself and may be able to give more insight.
If that is a female, there is definitely no reason to prolong things. If there was even a chance at making it to breeding size, if a female this kinked were to ovulate it would be terrible. Even infertile slugs being bound up would be a slow painful way to go.
If this snake is already having trouble shedding out the first shed, that doesn’t bode well at all for getting them to eat and poop properly.
I had a snake this kinked in an egg and culled it before it even attempted to crawl out.
I also have a male who has a neck kink, but he is able to move normally and just eats slightly smaller meals more often than my other boys his age.
If this was my hatchling, I would cull them. It’s too hard on you and also on the animal if you need to hand fuss over the regular processes like shedding and eating.
It sucks but sometimes it’s just the only way to be sure they aren’t suffering
Thank you to everyone who replied. I really appreciate all the advice and information. We don’t want the hatchling to suffer and it is very sad that we will have to euthanize it.
I’m so sorry you had this hatchling turn out like this
I know its going to hurt for a while but honestly euthanasia is the best route for this little one, a quick mercy that it would have never gotten otherwise in any other situation.
Having to live in that condition even with the best of help would probably have been miserable for the snake seeing that it was kinked all the way down its spine, poor thing probably can’t even move well enough to get to where it wants to go.
Looking on the bright side at least the other 8 hatchlings are doing fine I hope?
I’m sorry that you’re faced with such an unhappy situation. This is unfortunately a sad possibility when breeding. There’s really only one kind option for this poor little one. No one enjoys euthanasia, but it is sometimes necessary. Kudos to you for asking the hard question.
I am not a breeder but I can still sympathize with you because I love all of my reptiles. Sometimes nature is so cruel. But it’s not ours to question. Bless you for caring enough to do the right thing by this little one, even though it’s still difficult for you. Hugs and sweet thoughts coming your way.
Hugs and sweet thoughts coming your way.