Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've had my hog for about a year and a half now. he's the perfect pet snake. he's about a foot long and about as wide as a sharpie...couple questions though:
should he be bigger? i got him when he was 6". my parents are divorced so he only gets fed weekly but he appears healthy. i just don't know their normal growth rate.
my other question is are there any snakes aside from other hogs which do well sharing a cage with a hog? he's in a 15 gallon enclosure and there is a lot of room. I've heard sand boas would do well with him but i'm not sold on the idea of a snake you can only see half the time due to burrowing.

this is my first post on this board. i've been reading it for a while and it's taught me quite a bit. i would like to say thanks to the people who post informitive/entertaining stuff.

If you know for sure that it is a male then the size you posted is perfect. Males do not get very big as a rule. Feeding once a week is fine as long as he is getting the proper sized food item.

As for your other question about adding a cage mate: as a rule of thumb you should only ever add animals which you expect to be prey items in with any reptile (ex. guppies with sliders, frogs with eastern hognoses, etc.). Most reptiles, and esspecially snakes, are not social by nature. You can't add another snake and expect that the parties involved will be happy about it. More likely they will feel threatened and stressed and eventually one could end up eating the other, whether its hungry or not. It is very tempting to keep more than one animal together for our own selfish pleasure but it's really not in the best interest of the animal, and thats what we have to keep in mind. Hope this helps.
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2.1 dogs
0.1 cat
1.2.2 crested geckos ( 6 eggs)
1.2 leopard geckos
0.0.2 Western Hogs

>> my parents are divorced so he only gets fed weekly

Haha, I don't quite get the association between the two, but I'll take it. Feeding weekly is fine. The problem with hogs / captive herps is that they get fed TOO much. You could cut your feeding rate in half and not only will you still have a healthy snake, but it'll still grow just fine, too.

>>my other question is are there any snakes aside from other hogs which do well sharing a cage with a hog? he's in a 15 gallon enclosure and there is a lot of room. stuff.

NEGATIVE. What's wrong with him having a 15 gallon all to himself? It seems like you are somewhat new to herp husbandry. If you keep a few simple rules in mind when you want to expand your collection, you'll have healthy and happy animals. An enclosure for each animal. Sure their are plenty of exclusions, but for the most part, it's simpler to keep herps separated. And don't overfeed.

Below is a link to a recent post I made about cannibalism, just something to think about. I have other information on why you shouldn't keep hogs together or with others, but I don't have that link right now. Good Luck!
Click here for the link

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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society online store
http://www.cafepress.com/vaherpsociety

"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

thanks for the info. to clarify my snake gets fed about once a week because my parents are divorced and i switch houses weekly...i'm 17. i've been keeping reptiles for a little bit(about 10 years) but this is my first snake.
thanks again for the opinions i really appreciate it

Maybe a good time to remind ourselves that healthy growth depends as much on appropriate temperature choices as it does on food quantity.
I agree that it's not worth the risk to house them with other snakes, even their own kind.
Lindsay Pike
HOGNOSE.COM