Hognose general BS

Wow, a Southern h.nose huh? Are you going to try to breed it if you find another one? I know they're rare, I would love to have one! How's the temperament on that kind of hognose?

Good luck with her and hopefully you can find her a mate.

Yes i will try to breed one, but none are for sale lateley. Their temperament is normally pretty calm, ive never been bit, and he occasionally hisses and flattens out, but he does eat pinkies and rats now, and now hes about 18 inches. But they would be a great snake for people to get into so they can be saved, but definitely not for the novice keeper.

Figured I'd add to this general hognose BS thread, even if it is 6 months stale...

I have 2 hognose snakes.

One is a captive bred '99 female Western hognose that I purchased in 1999 at a reptile expo. She is a fat and saucy thing and has always been a great eater! I brumated her last winter and bred her in the spring to my friend's male. Unfortunately, I miscalculated when to expect eggs. Apparently she had been bred for awhile, even though we had not witnessed any mating behavior for several weeks after introducing her to the male. About a week before she laid her 3 eggs, she had been palpated by some vets from LSU's vet school, and they could not tell she had been bred! Wasn't I surprised when a week after bringing her back home to her old tank, she laid 3 eggs in her substrate! Two of the eggs were good but one was a slug. I didn't have my incubator set up, so the eggs had to sit in a tupperware container for a week in moist spaghnum moss until I got it set up. The 2 eggs didn't make it, and I am not sure if it is because they were laid in her rather dry susbstrate, because they weren't incubated at the right temp. while in her tank with her, or because I kept them too wet while in the incubator. I suspect the latter, as I always hear about keeping the eggs too wet as one of hte most common mistakes in hatching out eggs. Hmmm. I am starting to brumate her again now, and I'm planning on breeding her to the same male again this spring.

My 2nd hognose is a cb '04 female Eastern hognose. I bought her in October 2004 at a reptile expo from a guy who said she was eating toad-scented pinkies. She has been ornery for most of the time I've had her now. Her first feeding, she refused her unscented pinkie. I got a toad to keep for scenting purposes. I first tried just rubbing the pinkie on the toad, but she wouldn't take it. I had read that if you rub the pinkie around in the toad's mouth, that will help. I tried this, and she ate like a champ! It worked like magic. Her next feeding, I again scented the pinkie by just rubbing the toad and she wouldn't take it. So, I used the toad's mouth again. This time she chewed and gnawed on the pinkie on several occasions, but didn't eat it. I waited a week and tried to feed her again. She still wouldn't eat. Waited another week, and she still wouldn't eat. This time I decided to force feed her, and it went well (except for her pooping all over my hand). Ever since then, she has constantly refused to eat on her own. Although she is in good body condition for a little snake, and her behavior is normal, it is worryng me. Will she ever come around? Anyone have any tricks up their sleeves? As soon as spring hits, I plan to get her some baby toads to freeze/thaw and feed to her. Please, give me suggestions.

Thanks!
Katie

Just a note: A lot of snakes will not eat for about 1 to 3 months during winter or during certain photo periods (time changes). If your snake hasnt eaten for a month or so he may be fine as long as he seems to have the same energy and no symptoms of diseases. I care for hognosesas well as other snakes and I find this eating behavior common in other snakes as well. Goodluck with your hogs and if anyone has any eastern or southern babies I would love to get one to use for our education programs.

for griffin:
i know this probably sounds grose, but i went to this one website before, sorry i cant remember which one, and they gave me a suggestion to blender up a couple of toads and put them in those cube trays and get a pinkie and let the umm stuff in the ice tray melt and dip the pinkie into the juice and try to feed your snake. If you have the guts, try it. It might work. There is an easier way though. There is this kind of spray i think that gives pinkies the toad scent. Thats probably a lot easier than getting live animals, but i dont know if all pet stores sell that. Good luck

Man that sure was a pretty small amount of time to wait before force feeding a snake that was otherwise, except for not eating, in good shape. By force feeding a snake prey that it will ot normally accept you only heighten the stress related to that food item. There is now a chance the snake will associate a bad experience with the scent of thawed mice.

If you were that quick to force feed it, I wonder how patient or impatient you may have been regarding waiting to see if the snake would accept a thawed mouse. Yes I know you waited a week between feeding attempts but I mean how long did you leave the mouse in with the snake? feeder.


There are many tricks to get them to feed when relectant, and the first and foremost trick is to wait a week or two before even attemtpting the first feeding after acquisition. That way you are pretty sure the snake is hungry. You also get proof positive of whether or not the snake had been eating before you got it because it will have taken a dump in that time , if it had been fed within a few days before the purchase. You also get to examine the fecal sample to see if it looks normal.

When you try to feed it, if it does not eat right away, leave the thawed mouse with the snake overnight. Place both of them in a small container together (with air holes). The mouse will often be gone in the AM even when the snake is a poor feeder. If not gone, wait at least 3 to 4 days and try a scented live mouse. If they do not work, try a toad. If the snake still refuses to eat when offered a toad, you need to do some checking on environmental conditions and maybe on the health of the snake itself.

If your temps are off, even by a few degrees from how the seller had kept this snake, that could be a problem. If the olight cycle is off that could also be a problem. If the toads used for scenting are not the same species, try to switch scenting toads. If the snake can see any natural light to become acclimated to the natural light cycle (and I assume you live in the USA) then the snake may be going into brumation and, then you should not be trying to feed it, and definitely not be force feeding it. Some snakes will not eat if they feel it is time to brumate while others can be kept feeding all winter.

Other factors in the environment could be: type of substrate you use (some throw snakes off feed - such a cedar {which can also kill snakes}); too much handling (don't handle this snake - except for cage cleanings - until a month or two after it is feeding regularly); to many things going on outside the enclosure such as dogs, cats, kids or you paying too much attention to the snake and stressing it out. Other snakes in the snake room, or their scent, can sometimes make a new snake quite nervous.

If the snake starts losing weight rapidly or acting sick or showing any signs of illness, then a trip to the vet is in order.

Chances are this snake will need a properly scented pinky, or a toad of a species for which its senses are wired. Easterns, at least some of them, are notoriously hard to change over to even scented pinkies. If not then there is a good chance something in the environment is not correct or it is ill. If it appears healthy, check the environmental stuff first.

Good luck,
Glenn B