Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a baby western hognose August 17th at the Daytona reptile expo. The person I purchased him from said he was eating well and what not. Well after I got him home and tried feeding him, he showed no interest at all. I tried Pinkies, split brains, scented pinkines, live, frozen and no interest. I've attempted to feed him every week since then. Well Last night I pulled him out of his tank and put him in his feeding container with his pinkie and within 10 minutes I checked on him and he was working on eating it!!!!!! Yeah, finally...5 motnhs later, hopefully now he'll eat regularly and will start growing. I'm so happy he finally ate becuase it's been 5 months. From what others have said, they've had similar problems and once they finally decide to eat then they will eat regularly so we'll see. Fingures crossed!

I think your temps might have been too low. If a baby hog was kept at the right temps it would have been dead from not eating for 5 months. Great that it got food in now, try raising your temps if too low. (measure at the surface, avg temp and high spot)
Nick

If that's the case then I'm glad his temps were too low!!

But I don't think that's it, his daytime temps are about 85 to 87 degrees and nightime around 75 degrees. He's in a small enclosure so that he feels nice and safe since he is so tiny and has a shallow water bowl to lay in.

Anywyas, I'm just glad that he finally decided to eat!

What temps does everyone around here use?

I keep my female 05 in a 20L, since she was a month old, basking spot around 100, cool end about 70.

Biggest pig in the world.

85-87 is pretty hot: if the whole cage is heated to that temp.

That is around where mine are for the westerns day time. At night they drop to about 75.
Nick

If a baby hog was kept at the right temps it would have been dead from not eating for 5 months.

I have produced baby Mex Hogs that didn't eat for over 6 months (they refused frogs, toads, lizards, and pinks!). I didn't force feed them anything and they finally decided to start liking pinkies at around 6 months of age. Once they start, they usually make up for lost time.

In the case here, the snake had actually eaten prior to being sold (allegedly), so it had a better start than a newborn. Baby snakes are amazingly resilient.

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

Ok I was making an assumption and shouldn't have. I have seen baby easterns hogs die in 2 months with out eating though. They seem to have a higher metabolism. (one was mine) So if they do not eat in a month, or start losing weight, I assist feed.
Nick