refuses to eat

[kate269]

I have offered and thrown away 5 mice. My year old purple hognose male has not eaten since he shed a month ago. He puffs up and hisses at his food (thawed mouse). How long can he safely go without eating? He is stressing me out. Help!

Kate

[marvelfreak]

25320

They can go months with out eating. I would just leave it alone for a couple weeks then try feeding again.

[smy_749]

Double and triple check your temps / humidity / whatever. If 'everything is where it should be' thats great, check it again anyways.

But yea, if his health doesn't seem to be deteriorating and you don't notice any signs of sluggish behavior / weight loss / whatever, than don't stress it. He will eat eventually. If you have access to them, you may try scenting the mouse with a green tree frog.

[kate269]

Thank you, marvelfreak and smy 749 for your suggestions. I am curious as to your recommendations on temp and humidity.

Kate

[sharthun]

Hey and Welcome!

[Theweinz]

I have a very young green hognose male that had not eaten since I purchased him at a Repticon three months ago. Never even showed interest in a pinky; live, dead, brained, it did'nt matter. I attempted an assist feed but he would just spit them out. I have recently resorted to force feeding pinkies and although he is no longer as thin, he certainly is not happy about it!::pissedoff:

[kate269]

Sorry to hear that your green hognose isn't eating. I once had a normal colored hognose that I bought from a pet store he must have been around a year old. He refused to eat for me untill I got some tuna fish packed in oil and scented a thawed mouse with some of it. He went for it and after a short while I was able to stop the scenting. He continued to eat well after that. If you haven't already used scenting give it a try.

Kate

[Theweinz]

Kate,
Thanks for the suggestion. I tried to scent f/t pinkies with shrimp and then tuna- no interest whatsoever. I always try to let him feed on his own before I force feed, but no luck as of yet. Hopefully one of these weeks he will just grab the pinky and wolf it down without any help!

[kate269]

Oh happy day! My purple male hognose finally ate today. He hadn't eaten since August. After reading and rereading hognose care sheets I found that my cage which I just bought and paid a lot for, thinking I was making him a really cool living environment was to big. Could this really be why he stopped eating, the cage was to big. It was 36 in long.
So I got another cage a 20 long 24 in and redid his set up. Right away he came out of hiding so I waited a couple of days so he could get used to his new smaller home and I gave him a meal. I check back about a half an hour later and couldn't believe my eyes.
The mouse was gone and there was a nice little bump in him. He is under his day light basking. What a relief.

Kate

[EL Ziggy]

Congrats Kate. I'm glad he ate for you. Best wishes.

[kate269]

Thanks, EL Ziggy

[sharthun]

Congrats Kate. I'm glad he ate for you. Best wishes.


Good News!:)

[kate269]

Thanks, Sharthun.