He's eating!!!

[thomas1123]

as some of you know i just got my new baby hognose a week and a half ago. well ive been really worried that he wasn't going to eat. well i decided i was going to get a frozen pinkie out and try. i left it in hot water for about 15 minutes and put it on a rock in his cage. i left the room and i leftt the pinkie there for about 30 minutes. i came back nothing had happened so i picked it up with tongs and wiggled it in front of him he hissed at it and struck twice and then he started to move back some. so i decided to try one more time and i layed it in between some leaves that he uses as a door lol i just left it there. well about a minute later a heard some leaves moving and a smacking noise. i went over to his tank to see what it was and he had half the pinkie in his mouth! im just so happy right now that hes eating. i hope he eats next week to!

[Lankyrob]

Cool, always great when they first eat for us!!

[NennaMeerkat]

YAY THOMAS! I am glad he is eating for ya on the first time. Hopefully next time he will eat without going through everything you did before. I would suggest continuing to place food on the leaves like you did this time. After he eats three times in a row for ya then you can work on getting him used to being held.

Oh I am so happy for you!!

[stephanbakir]

Grats man, nice to see hard work paying off

[sickvenom]

Originally Posted by thomas1123

i hope he eats next week to!

don't be alarmed if he doesn't, just keep at it. getting hogs to eat the first few is always the most difficult. hogs have fast metabolism so you'll want to try every week. once it's established, feed every week until it has reached the sub-adult/adult stage. if you aren't going to breed then you might be able to back off to every other week.

[thomas1123]

alright thatnks for helping out me out with all the information! im thinking that maybe he ate because the pinkie may have had my fish tank sent on it. i was doing a water change when i got the pinkie and put it in the leaves. but idk thanks!

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by thomas1123

alright thatnks for helping out me out with all the information! im thinking that maybe he ate because the pinkie may have had my fish tank sent on it. i was doing a water change when i got the pinkie and put it in the leaves. but idk thanks!

i have heard of people scenting pinkies with tuna oil

cheers shaun

[sickvenom]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

i have heard of people scenting pinkies with tuna oil

cheers shaun

i have had a high success rate with tuna juice (not oil.) i will try that before scenting with frog, toad or braining.

[NennaMeerkat]

Having had one that wouldn't eat for me I tried canned salmon. Just rubbed the pinky with a piece of the fish. It is supposed to work, but in this case did not since there was a malformation in her mouth. But it is something you could try.

However since this one feeding went well enough just put the pinky back where you had it this time, in the leaves, and see what happens. Even with my new girl it can take an hour before she decides she wants to eat. But she also prefers "fresh" dead pinkies and not ones that have been frozen for a long time.

Sometimes you gotta try different things before finding that "perfect" situation.

[thomas1123]

yep i need to buy some more pinks tomorrow i