Hognoses and Heat

**Minkness** · 09-10-15, 07:52 AM

So, I know that most snakes need a UTH or some form of heating element. My curiosity is how true this is. As most know I have several hoggies and out of all of them....NONE use their heat. If anything they stay in the coolest area possible. (Checked the temps and they are not too hot). So, do Injust happen to have weird snakes, or do you think they are more like garter snakes in that they don't really need it? I'd like my snakes to use their full enclosure and not feel they need to stay in just one place all the time. I even did a gradient depth of their substrate (sanichips) to encourage burrowing since that's what they are supposed to do, and still no luck....with the exception of 1 male who likes to hang out under his water dish.....no one ueses their hides or burrows! I am of course no expert, but general observation seems to be telling me the oppiset of most care sheets, sites, and general opinion. Even after a large meal they don't hide or lay on their heat......

Obsidian_Dragon · 09-10-15, 08:19 AM

My garter snake definitely uses his heat. Not always after a meal--but then neither does my king. Or the rat. Snake does what snake wants.

I think it's important to offer them the choice--we don't watch them 24-7, so we don't KNOW for sure how much of their enclosure they use. I used to think my king was kind of a lump but since moving him into the office where he's in my sight for several hours in the evening, I've learned that he actually does a lot more than I thought. You never know!

But, I mean, my offer of sending me one still stands. I could, uh, make my own observations. Yeah.

Sylphie · 09-10-15, 08:48 AM

You know, I'm not having any heats in my vivs... but I'm having a really though species (corns, russians and I will have a hatchling taiwanese beauty tomorrow!). They are all fine in my room temps (between 68 to 95, depends on the weather), so I just don't see the reason to use it (I once offered one heat pad for my corn, and one for my russian, both were staying away from it). They digest propely, they are active and healthy. But with burrowing and hides... all of my snakes loves to burrow and hide, some of them just don't do it immediately (one of my corns started to burrow after 2 months of having a lot of soil). What I find curious, they never poo in their hides, maybe they recognize it as a "bed" and don't want it to be dirty?

**Minkness** · 09-10-15, 09:10 AM

Perhaps.

And nice try Obi! XD My hoggs were the steal of a century for me sooooo....mine! Lol

As for not pooping in the hide....My BP Moko loooooves pooping/peeing in his hide then smear it all over -_-

My geckos seem to potty train themselves though! They pick a corner and keep using it lol.

prairiepanda · 09-10-15, 10:45 AM

I keep all my snakes at room temp too. I specifically chose species that would be okay with that. Haven't had any issues with them, and they've never shown signs of discomfort with the temperature(incessantly trying to escape, coiling around the water dish to cool down, etc.) Never heard of anyone keeping hoggies at room temp, though. You could try reducing the hot spot temperature and see what happens. Like Obsidian said, though, you're not watching them 24/7

As for pooping...my pines don't have hides because they prefer to burrow, but my milk snake never ever poops inside her hide! She always poops in a corner for some reason. The others poop in random places. My geckos, however...I frequently find gecko poop in the food/water dishes!!!

Eggplant · 09-12-15, 10:16 AM

Dunno, mine goes through phases of liking hot/ cold. Currently she's consistently been sleeping in her hot hide or under the heat lamp. But just a month ago she would always sleep in her water bowl or beside it at the colder end.

jjhill001 · 09-13-15, 01:42 AM

I use heat in the winter for my rat snakes but I had an impulse buy this summer and had to swipe their heating pad for a leopard gecko and they haven't had one for a while now and they are fine. In the summer it gets about 85 degrees in the cage with no heat then cools at night. I just bought a new one though because winter is coming.

sirtalis · 09-13-15, 07:40 AM

I think every reptile has its own preference, your hognoses (whats the plural for hognose lol) may prefer lower temps but i bet others like it warmer than the suggested temps, heck i keep my leos in a super humid and very hot cage and they thrive. As long as they eat, shed, poop, etc they should be fine. If i were you, id take away the heat abd see how they act for a few weeks, if they still eat and all that then you could probably remove the heat source, but if they have bad shed or act "sick" then probably return to using heat, imo

Albert Clark · 09-13-15, 11:18 AM

IMO, heating availability is very important, even with temperate species snakes. That is why all heating elements have to be regulated by a tstat. This way you can dial in the appropriate amount of heat at any given time. It is a psychological, physiological necessity for reptiles to thermoregulate. That is one of the most important husbandry actions to make that available to them.

Eggplant · 09-13-15, 01:37 PM

I use a thermostat for my tank and set it at around 90-92F. I use a ceramic heat emitter and for light I just keep my blinds open for the day. My hoggie does seem to be more active/ have better feeding response when she gets more sunlight (through the window).

She switches between sleeping her her 3 hides (hot, middle, cold) but I usually find her just sleeping in the open, in her toilet bowl or in her hot hide.

Today I found her asleep with just a tiny mound of substrate over her head. I think she believes she's very well hidden..

**Minkness** · 09-13-15, 01:51 PM

Lol funny. 4 of my 5 sleep out in the open. I never see them in their hides.

Humble308 · 09-16-15, 10:15 AM

Minkness,

I've been noticing that about my girl too. She just burrows and mostly hangs out on the cold side. Observing all her burrowing pencil holes she doesn't use the hot side much and never uses her hide unless I handle her then she'll roam the tank a bit before diving under the aspen. Hot side is only 86 and even when I'd had it in the low to mid 90's she still stayed on the cool side. Poor thing put on a huge display monday night when I tried to feed. Hissing and neck flaring, guess I'll have to go back to scenting. All the best.

**Andy_G** · 12-21-15, 12:00 PM

Generally, you will have a more solid feeder if you keep ambients in the mid to high 70's and a basking spot right around 90-92. A lot of people claim to have picky/problematic/sporadic feeding hognose but sometimes they will not feed as well if the temps drop too much. Each individual is different, but kept at those temps while I kept and bred the species (8 years) I rarely had a refusal unless it was a male during breeding season or a gravid female. These hoggies have such a wide geographical range and are highly adaptable.

**Aaron_S** · 12-21-15, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_G

Generally, you will have a more solid feeder if you keep ambients in the mid to high 70's and a basking spot right around 90-92. A lot of people claim to have picky/problematic/sporadic feeding hognose but sometimes they will not feed as well if the temps drop too much. Each individual is different, but kept at those temps while I kept and bred the species (8 years) I rarely had a refusal unless it was a male during breeding season or a gravid female. These hoggies have such a wide geographical range and are highly adaptable.

Yeah what this guy said.

Did you know I asked BHB (fairly large hog breeders especially 7 years ago). They told me this was wrong because they weren't boas or pythons and only that species is supposed to have 90degree hot spots.

**Minkness** · 12-21-15, 04:12 PM

Hmmm....I recently was working with a tiny hoggie who hadn't eaten since feb....I had her warm, but not that warm, and I still couldn't gwt her to eat...and, she was BHB bred. I sent her back after a month and a half. Didn't want her dieing in my care, but I may try to reach out to her owner and tell him to try that. Thanks for the info =)