Juvenile Hogsnose off food for 30 Days

[ThunderThor]

Hi all,

There's a "too long summary" at the bottom, but here is the backstory.

I had another post about my Hognose having some concerning coloration around the lips - took it to vet, said it was superficial mouth rot, went through treatment, everything cleared up. Took the snake for a follow up and the vet said the snake looked good, hydration was good, etc.

My concern is that it has been 4 weeks and 2 days (so 30 days) since the snake last fed. I weighed her before taking her to the vet about 3-ish weeks ago, and I got 9grams. The vet weighed her a few days later at 10g, then on her follow-up 2 weeks after that at 9g. I weighed her again on my home scale and got 9g.

So I don't think we actually have weight loss, or if we do it is 1gram (which is more than 10% of her body weight).

I'm just wondering when I need to worry or what steps to take. Her feeding history:

From pet store: She was being fed 1 pinky once a week. It was scented by rubbing it against a frog, then the snake and the pinky were put in a brown paper bag. Not sure how many feedings.

At my home I waited a week and offered an unscented pinky in a brown paper bag, snake ate.

4 Days later, offered an unscented pinky in brown paper bag, snake ate.

Another 4 or so days later, offered an unscented pinky in brown paper bag, snake did not eat. Noticed the discoloration around mouth. Couple days later offered unscented pinky in enclosure and left unattended, snake ate.

So now, before the vet visit, I withheld food for the examination. That extended the no-feed time to about a week. Vet said try to feed her then start treatment, but vet tech started treatment that day. Offered unscented pinkies in bags and in enclosure every so often during treatment, snake didn't eat. Snake also didn't eat post treatment.

A few days ago I tried a tuna-scented pinky in a brown paper bag, didn't eat. Offered same pinky in enclosure and left for 24+ hours, didn't eat.

The snake will come to the mouse sometimes and knows it there, but does not eat.

Oh and I should note that the vet said to switch her bedding to paper towels for sanitary reasons during treatment then recommended to keep her on papertowels until she feeds. She was previously on sani-chips. She is still on paper towels now.

Warm side temp is at about 90, cool side temp is around 80-82. Set-up has hides on both sides and some paper towel rolls and stuff and a plant. Plenty of places to go, but she mostly sticks to either the cold side under the paper towels or sometimes under the papertowels kind of in the middle.

Too Long Summary:
Juvenile hognose (9 grams) is off food for 30 days, recently underwent treatment for superficial mouthrot on lips. Offered unscented and 1 scented pinky in a variety of ways.

Wondering about how to proceed with feeding and at what point a snake this young & small is in danger from not eating.

Thanks.

[ThunderThor]

Updated: Finally got her to eat today. Took a f/t pinkie from a local vendor. Fed in enclosure with tongs. Noticed she was active, so thawed a pinkie. She hid under her paper towels and I offered the mouse right in her face, she showed interest for about 30 seconds then took it. Took her awhile to eat it, but it went down.

[Tsubaki]

Good that she has eaten for you again! It was probably just a little stress from the vet visit and treatment. If you're done treating I would try to get her to eat a few more times before handling her or making major changes to the enclosure.

[EL Ziggy]

I'm not sure how I missed this thread but I'm glad she's on the mend and eating again too. It's amazing how resilient they are even at that size.