Hatchling Hognose about a week old. I haven’t fed yet, plan to do so tomorrow. How severe is this kink? Do I need to euthanize or should I wait and see how it does?
5 Likes
The kink does look rather bad. Can you tell if it’s struggling to move normally? I’m a little worried it might have trouble passing food/waste down that area.
6 Likes
Agreed, the kink does look bad.
If it were mine I’d give them a small meal and see if they can have it pass all the way through. If not then I’d euthanize…
Sorry that this one turned out that way 
5 Likes
It moves around just fine until the start of the first kink then seems to be paralyzed. The tail just sort of drags along. Here is another picture from a different angle.
3 Likes
If it is paralyzed from the first kink down then it could pose an issue to it being able to pass any waste. Then if it’s not able to eat properly either the best option would likely be to euthanize it unfortunately
5 Likes
I’d euthanize it now, and not inflict a probable blockage on it (I assume that’s intensely uncomfortable). Though there are some very rare people who take in such animals out of big-heartedness and care for them well forever, more than likely if you offer it at an appropriate ‘pet only’ price it will be treated in a way commensurate with the selling price, or flip it for 20 bucks more. You could keep it forever yourself, but then the animal welfare issue becomes whether it makes sense to kill 750 mice (one a week for 15 years) to keep it in a box out of pity.
I think we best produce animals that will be valued highly for their whole lives, and I don’t see that deformed ones are likely to be that. Being a responsible animal producer takes a strong stomach and an unflinching hand sometimes. If you freeze it after humanely euthanizing it (note that freezing is not an acceptable euthanasia method – details here), you may be able to find someone who would like to use it as a feeder, if that makes things seem better for some reason.
7 Likes
As has been mentioned, if it has no motion below the first kink, and with kinking that severe above the cloaca, it’s likely best to euthanize in this case.
6 Likes
Also, even if there is somehow motion below that first kink, I would still euthanize this animal if it’s a female. I don’t want to assume gender in this case because the tail length can be affected as well with incubation issues. If this animal were ever to ovulate that would be a major issue were they to develop slugs instead of reabsorption.
I agree with what has been said above. The best thing to do in a case like this is considering euthanasia. This is not a minor kink that can mostly go unnoticed an may have very complicated issues internally that cannot be seen.
6 Likes