Western Hognose Troubleshooting

Little Freyja is off to the vet. I’m in my last day of quarantine from Covid so my girlfriend had to take her in for me. Just got off the phone with my favorite of all the exotic vets the animal hospital employs and she will be taking care of my girl. They are going to keep her most of the day to monitor her behavior and try to figure out the problem. Feel good knowing she is with my favorite vet there. Had nothing but good experiences with her and she is super knowledgeable about all of the exotics I’ve brought to her in the past. Last time I saw her was for my tortoise and she told me hogs were her favorite species. Will update this when I know more.

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For those still following; I just spoke to my vet. She tells me that from her physical exam everything looks good. She said that while under observation she did see the strange behavior that I saw. She said she doesn’t think it is anything to be super concerned about, but should be monitored. She said that when she flipped the snake over on her back it took a few seconds longer than it should have for Freyja to right herself, but she is a hog and being flipped over like that as young and small as she is could have scared her and she may have been playing dead for a moment before she realized she was in no danger and flipped over. She was more concerned with the inconsistent feeding. She recommended I buy some reptilinks and try those to see if the natural frog scent will get her interested. Also bought some frog juice scenting drops for when it gets to be time to switch her back over to ft mice. We discussed husbandry a great deal and she feels like adding another hide would do her good. I am 3d printing one as I type this. The 2.5G tank makes it really hard to add everything she needs so I currently have one hide, a length of pvc I thought would suffice as the second hide, a water bowl, and a fake leafy plant. Overall snake is doing ok. Just have to get her eating and continue monitoring the strange movements.

Thanks for the advice and concern from everyone. I love having a community like this that I can come to when things aren’t going the best and get informed advice and kind words. Means a lot. Thanks guys.

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To those still following; Freyja ate a pinkie mouse tonight! Proud snake papa tonight. She would, of course, wait until after I spend a grip and a half on reptilinks frog links and frog juice to scent her pinkies. It all just shipped today. Whatever though, she ate!

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Awsome :sunglasses: :grin:

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Congratulations on her eating, are you noticing any improvement with the neurological?

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Not particularly. I’m hoping it is something she will get better with coping with as she ages. If there has been any improvements they have been small. I haven’t seen her fall over, but I still catch her upside down.

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One of my hogs likes to death roll his food I have to feed Hin later so I will try and video it but he will only eat live and I don’t know if there is a rule about it I don’t think there is but I’d rather be safe then sorry(pm me if you want the video) but only if you really want it I don’t want to get in trouble for it it’s a bit brutal so be warned

I agree–this sounds neurological to me. FTR, I breed hogs and have seen plenty of drama kings and queens as well as spotty and picky eaters, but this seems to be something else.

My first thought was she’s either been exposed to excessive heat (perhaps during shipping) or a toxin, like a mite treatment. (Hogs are extremely sensitive to anti-mite chemicals and it has repeatedly been shown to cause significant neurological damage and even death.) What were your and shipper’s temps at the time of transport? Was there any delay? Was a cool pack included, and if so, was it still cool to the touch when you got her?

Her eating issues may very well be due to the neurological symptoms she’s displaying. I’d switch her to paper towels (for monitoring more than anything) and withhold feeding for at least 10 days so you can observe behaviors. If she starts to appear dehydrated, you could soak her in 85 degree water with 25% unflavored Pedialyte.

Unfortunately, if it is neurological in origin, there is little that can be done outside of supportive care while she hopefully wins the battle on her own. Most vets that see reptiles won’t have much they can do to help; I’d think best they might do is fluids, anti-inflammatories, and possibly antibiotics in the event this is an infection, but you’d need to find a herp specialist (a reptile vet as opposed to a vet that sees reptiles–big difference between those two) for that.

Hang in there and keep us updated!

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@cleoskingdom to answer your questions in order:

  • My temps day of were a high of 86 and a low of 60. Temps in Tampa were a high of 93 and a low of 77.
  • There was no delay in shipping.
  • A cool pack was included and it was still cold to the touch.
  • She has never had a treatment for mites in my care. I have not asked the seller. No mites have been seen since in take.

She is not on paper towel anymore at the suggestion of my vet. She said she may be feeling stressed not being able to burrow. The breeder kept her on aspen so it was a change for her when she got to me. My vet suggested feeding reptilinks. I ordered $200 dollars worth of stuff from them. The day it arrived I was scheduled to feed her. I tried a small pinkie for what was supposed to be the last time, if it didn’t work I was going to scent with frog juice and if that didn’t work I was going to feed frog reptilinks. She took the pinkie from me after a little convincing with no scenting. 4 days later she took another one. She is due for a feeding again tonight so fingers crossed.

I also ordered a new thermostat for her. I was using the exoterra 100watt on/off thermostat and the highest temp I can set it to is 92. He temps were a little low on top of the aspen after I added it so I ordered a VE-300 thermostat with the hopes that the increased wattage and higher temp settings would give me better control of her temps.

So far things are looking good. I see her a lot less which I am equating to less stressed. She is usually curled up under one of her 3 hides of buried in the aspen. I have not noticed as much strange behavior since she started eating for me, but I also haven’t seen her much. I only bother her on feeding days. Today is her weigh in day so I can see where she is from when I got her.

Thanks for your reply.

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If the neurological problem is similar to spider in ball pythons the reduction of stress should help. When you check the temperatures check the bottom of the tank, if you only check the top the snake could burrow down and become burned.

I am changing them all to heat emitters from the top. I think it more closely mimics a natural environment. When a snake wants to cool off they go underground. I tried it with my adult female and she seems to be very happy with the change. Much more active than she has been which was already pretty active during the day. Also switched her to a soil/ sand mixture that she seems to enjoy. Thinking about going bioactive with the adult, but this thread isn’t about her. She is thriving.

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