Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well not really but I have to grumble.... I have a new-to-me male hog that I was hoping to breed to my female, because the whole 3 years I've had her she's eaten pretty well and he has eaten well for his previous owner. I got him to my place in mid-June, both of them ate the week before he arrived, and now neither of them has eaten since then! nothing has changed except his arrival, and they are in seperate tanks....though he's been pretty active lately (refused food a couple days ago but I am hoping he's hungry and hunting). I tried tuna scenting, and neither of them would touch the mice. The funny part was, when they don't eat I give their mice to my kingsnake, who will eat anything and everything you put in front off him. He struck the tuna-scented mouse and then reeled back like he'd been burned. Wouldn't touch the things until I rinsed off the tuna juice, then he ate with his usual vigor. Do I have the only snakes around that hate tuna juice? any thoughts on the hogs eating? they aren't losing significant body condition, though with the male becoming a bit active he might drop some.... I was hoping to breed but if they don't eat I'm not going to even try....

You might have to try a frog or toad to scent with or try live. Good luck.

reako45

I just tried this today and it worked great. My friend has a adult male hog that hasn't eaten since April. He just went off feeding for no reason. So basically he hasn’t eaten since April. So today I split brained a fuzzy mouse, and bam he ate it, and two more right away. If he’s used to mice, don’t get him stimulated using frogs/toads, stick to mouse tricks...
Hope this helps

wow..that sounded really stupid (but you get the point...I was really tired when I wrote it...)

I tried split braining, neither was interested, though they were a bit less disinterested in it than a regular fuzzy (if that makes sense). I definitely won't be scenting with any frogs or toads, they've been on unscented for years and they aren't going to know that they have any other options how long did you leave yours with the fuzzy? I'm thinking about just trying them overnight in a small container with a heat source and hoping they'll eat...but then I could only offer one and they can eat several (though I'd be happy with one at the moment)... what do you do?

I just had a female western eat today for the first time since June 9th!! She was a great feeder before that. Just keep offering food and keep track of her weight. Of course a fecal would be good just to make sure there are no other issues. Good luck.
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Jenea

2:3:1 Tricolor Hognose
2:2 Eastern Hognose
1:2 Western Hognose
0:2 Southern Hognose
0:0:3 Florida Redbelly Snakes
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
0:0:3 Eastern Fence Lizards
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

picked these up at the KC herp show this weekend.... there were lots of baby hogs (soooo cute, sooo tempting but I want to make my own...), and some absolutely massive breeder females... but I got myself 3 tiny african house snake babies and a cape gopher snake, hope you like them
Sue
1.0 Fl king
1.1 western hognose
1.0 cape gopher
0.0.3 african house snakes
0.1 velveteen rat
0.1 DLH cat