Tri color hogs

[reptiler ron]

I've been looking at them and have a few ?s.Do they retain there color as adults?I've seen adds were they eat f/t pinks witch is know problem but what size mice do adults eat.Any and all info will help. Thanks Ron

[Suncoast Herpetological]

Ron

The Tri's tend to fade and darken a bit as they age. Day old pinks are usually readily accepted. Scenting, in my experience, has been rarely necessary. The one thing I found out the hard way my first year producing them is that their metabolism is so high that, as neonates, you really have to feed them at least twice a week in order to keep them healthy and growing. I had my very first clutch on once a week feeding and actually lost a few to malnutrition / starvation before i figured this out

[reptiler ron]

Thanks John, any and all info is great in helping me deciding on getting them.Ron

[FloridaHogs]

I disagree a bit with that John. I feed my neonates once a week, and have lost zero to malnutrition. As far as the scenting.....from my experience it really depends on the mom/dad. I have a pair whose babies readily eat unscented from the get go. I have another pair whose babies always require scenting. Next year I will switch up the males and see if the babies appatites change. It is so predictable right now, that I would beat money on which will eat unscented and which will require scenting. Goodthing is that once they start eating unscented, they are eating machines.

Of the honose species, the tricolors are the easiest to keep. They only time mine go off food is when they are sick, or the males when girls are on their mind. As long as the ambient temps are 75 to 80 F they do not even require heat. Any cooler than thet I would provide heat, but not a lot. I do find them to like higher humidity than the eastern or western hognose.

One downfall to them is that they are nocturnal. I do not get to see them as much as the easterns or westerns.