baby hognose not eating

[Ivanator]

So my friend asked me about how to get his hognose to start eating again after coming out of hibernation. I have never kept one, or any snake that naturally hibernates during the winter so I thought I'd ask the experts. Around late november, early december, it started getting really cold here in CA and his snake stopped eating. It's a newborn, probably only a month old when he got it, so he read that they hibernate so he just kept it cool. Now that it's warming up a lot, it started becoming more active so he tried feeding it a few weeks ago and it didn't take it. He's been trying every week and it doesn't even seem interested and today he told me that it's starting to lose a lot of weight. It has never shed since he got it so it's still really small. What is the best way to get it to start eating again? Also, is the weight loss natural in snakes that hibernate since they don't eat for so long or should he really be concerned? Since I own retics, weight loss is a serious concern so I told him to try to feed one more time later this week and if it still doesn't eat, to take it to a vet especially since it's just a baby. Thanks ahead for the responses.

Oh... He keeps it in a 10g aquarium with a hide on the hot and cold side, he has a lot of decorations and he keeps it on aspen. He said the hot side is at 92 and the cool side is in the high 70's and it drops about 5 degrees at night.

[Gregg M]

It is great when people ask a question and offer up the vital information in the the question. Many people seem to leave that out a lot.

What I would do is up the hot end temps to 95 degrees F. Upping it 3 more degrees may not sound significant but it can mean the difference between eating and not eating.

Also, tell your buddy not to offer a night time drop and to offer a humidified hide. The rapid weight loss can be due to dehydration as well. Significant or visual weight loss is not normal in properly brumated hognose snakes. When they are cooled to brumation temperatures, their metabolic systems slow down and they hardly use any researves. Average weight loss on my hogs during brumation is 1 to 2 grams

Do you know how many feeds it had before it was brumated and if they were scented with anything before hand?

Hope this helps.

Gregg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7578893322_b207d229ae_z.jpg

[Ivanator]

It ate only about 3 times since he's had it and he had to scent it once with tuna juice. I don't even know if he brumated it right. He just said it stopped eating so he decided to turn off all the heat and let it hibernate.

[cfox109]

Hey "Ivanator," thanks for asking this question for me. At first I was like oh someone has the same thing going on with their hognose as me. I actually came on here to ask the same question haha. Ok so let me clear a few things. She was hatched last june so she is a little older and about 13" long. I got her in october and didnt have problems with her eating till december. She ate every 4-5 days before that. I put her into brumation because she was not eating and she constantly stayed in the coldest part of the tank, so i figured might as well let her do what she wants to do. The problem was i was not prepared to brumate her because my plan was to keep temps up and keep feeding through winter. Her temps during brumation were in the 60s occasionally mid 50s so maybe a little high. My mini fridge went out (no defroster) so i couldn't keep her in a perfect 55. She was in brumation from about christmas till the end of january. I cut it short cuz it started getting hot around here and i couldn't keep her tank below 70. So once she was warmed up was when i started noticing weight loss. She has had 3 meals since she was brought out. Its been about 2 weeks since her last meal which isn't a big deal I guess but her weight loss is worrying me. I just bumped up her temp to 95, thanks for the advice. I thought about raising it before but 92 was still higher then most care sheets I've read so i was worried about going higher. Also going to make a humid hide tonight. Im thinking ill wait to put it in on saturday because thats when im going to try to feed her again, and i don't want to agitate her before then.

[Ivanator]

Haha what up "cfox109?" You didn't tell me that you joined and since I didn't know anything about your snake, of course I had to find out. Now you need to get into retics!

[cfox109]

Haha well I saw this place had a lot of good info when you recommended me, and a more active hognose section, so I joined. I got a few snakes on my list before I get a retic tho haha. Anyways counting down to saturday hoping my hog will eat. I have a good feeling about it after bumping her temp up.

[Gregg M]

I have a good feeling about it after bumping her temp up.

That usually works.

Also, he is about 9 months old and 13 inches long. He might be looking for a little lovin too. He is old enough and big enough to breed so this can be a factor as well.

Keep us updated and good luck.

[cfox109]

Oh sorry forgot to mention its a female. Can male hogs really breed at 9 months?

[Gregg M]

Oh sorry forgot to mention its a female. Can male hogs really breed at 9 months?

Oh, ok. Int was refered to as "he" by your buddy.

And yes, males can breed that early, and even younger.

[cfox109]

That's pretty cool. Good to know in the future. Thanks

[cfox109]

Just an update I got my little hog eating! I had to scent a pinky with salmon juice but she actually ate which made me happy. I gave her about 3 hours with an un scented pinky and then tried salmon juice when that didn't work. The scented one was gone before I turned around. Hopefully this doesn't become a habbit with her and shell get back to unscented soon. Thanks for the tips as well Gregg, and Ivan for starting this thread.

[Ivanator]

Nice job man! See ya tomorrow