Hognose wont eat

acidonangles · 01-05-15, 02:57 PM

Okay so I keep him in a 20 gallon tank. I have a normal bulb for light set on a timer of 6:30am to 7pm. I have a heat pad that is around 85. The other side is 70. I am getting a heat lamp to heat the tank some more. I have 2 hides 2 plants and 1 water bowl almost in the middle of the tank but closer to the cool side. He is super active and goes around the tank constantly and tries to climb the walls, that or he's sleeping.
I went to an expo almost 3 weeks ago and got Nero, my snake. They said he has eaten 3 times and x-small pinkies. I let him settle in for a week and tried to just wiggle it in front of him. All he did was hiss once then tried to escape and go the other direction. So I left it in with him and dimmed the lights for an hour. The next time I tried salmon juice of the head of the pinkie, same thing happened so I left it and Nero in a 5.5 quart tube and he didn't eat it.
This Wednesday I am going to try and brain the mouse before feeding.
Any suggestions? What weight should he be? He's about 9 inches.

wrecker45 · 01-05-15, 04:59 PM

My female has not eaten for over two months.

Cmwells90 · 01-05-15, 06:52 PM

Acid, because of the cold weather MANY snakes are going off feed, usually durnial (daytime) animals more than nocturnal animals. Hoggies are sensitive to the light changes around them so I'm sure your little guy knows it's winter and is brumating, much like hibernating except they wake up to drink water n stuff. So just keep offering food weekly and make sure he's not really losing any weight, although at that size it's hard to tell. Just like Wrecker, my hoggie went off feeding around Nov.

As long as your husbandry is on point, then when they go off feed it's just a waiting game. I keep my hoggies at 88-90 on the warm side but that's just me. Also make sure you're measuring these temps with a digital thermometer so you know it's accurate, analog guages can be off by 10 degrees.

Kuamata · 01-05-15, 06:59 PM

Hm... Sounds like you got everything aside from the temps, but you seem to already know they need to be warmer... and you know the various methods to tempt reptiles, too..

How about this, are all sides of the tank walls see through? Is he in a high traffic area (lots of movement)? Did the breeder specify live or f/t? What humidity is Nero being kept at?

Kuamata · 01-05-15, 06:59 PM

Double post, phone being dumb. Should probably remove this one if needed.

Derek1 · 01-05-15, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrecker45

My female has not eaten for over two months.

About to hit a month for mine.

**Minkness** · 01-05-15, 08:17 PM

Hmmm...I'm not familiar with hoggies yet though my plan is to get one in march.

However....could it be that the tank is too big?

I only ask because I have a gecko that stresses out pretty bad in larger tanks, so i have to keep him in something smaller. 5-10 gallon tank instead of a 20 long like I'd like.

Just a thought!

Kuamata · 01-05-15, 08:21 PM

Would depend on age. 10 gal is acceptable for a little one, but 20 gal would better fit an adult. A little one can be in a 20 gal if plenty of hides are provided (more than 2).

TempestK · 01-05-15, 11:19 PM

Still, a baby snake can be overwhelmed in a big cage like that. Keep in mind that snakes in the wild spend most of their time in little holes in the ground or some similar tight situation. Time of year is important as was noted also. They seem to know no matter what conditions we provide. I've got a couple makes that haven't eaten since November also, and they did the same thing last year. The females continue to eat, so go figure. But the best trick I've found to get a stubborn hognose to eat is a simple thing I got from a breeder friend, and that is to put them and the food in a paper bag and leave them for a while. Just a brown lunch sack will do. That's actually how I got my females to start eating consistently when I got them last year.

**Minkness** · 01-05-15, 11:46 PM

Really? What is it about a brown paper bag? What about a shoe box?

TempestK · 01-06-15, 12:29 AM

Too much room for a baby hognose in a shoebox. In fact, I house my baby snakes in plastic shoeboxes. A lunch sack is not only completely dark but is also very confined. You can achieve this with a deli cup and it works well for little king snakes who won't eat, but the hoggies seem to like it dark. Make sense as they are burrowers. There's an excellent book by John Berry on Western Hognoses if you're into books. A bit pricey, but worth every penny.

**Minkness** · 01-06-15, 12:43 AM

Hmmm....

I hate to hijack this threat but I'm learning so much from it. I hope you all don't mind if I ask other questions. If you do, please just PM your answers.

I plan on getting a small hoggie in march. I have a 5 gallon tank that will be available by then as I will be upgrading my MBK to a 10 soon. Would it be better to keep the hoggie in a small critter keeper until it's larger then move it into the 5 gallon?

I have small, medium, large critter keepers, but, I also have a 3 gallon cylinder fish tank. What would be the best for a small hoggie that promotes good feeding response, but also heats well, and easy to tame down?

TempestK · 01-06-15, 01:07 AM

My experience tells me that whichever one of those closest approximates the size of a plastic shoebox would be best. Those are about 6 in. by 12 in. by about 4 in high. But then that's just what I've had success with.

**Minkness** · 01-06-15, 01:11 AM

Probably the medium then. But how do you heat up a shoebox?

acidonangles · 01-06-15, 01:36 AM

He is very movement bound. The tank is see through. F/t and being kept at 30-40 percent humidity. He sleeps in the open a d almost never burrows or go into the hides provided. And it's fine if you also ask questions Minkness,