Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just got this little guy on Sat (he shed the day i got him and ate 3 days prior to me getting him). I was told to feed him to brain the pinkies and he would eat right outta my hand and then chain feed a few more to him. He has NO interest in the food or me for that matter so i dont see how he would take anything outta my hands. He is a constant hisser and has "played dead" twince since i have had him and i have done little to provoke it. Any tips before i start to get really worried about him? I have heard of senting with toads but he has been fed without it and i dont want to have to rely on that method.

The first thing I would think is he's still settleing into his new home. Most of all my snakes I don't even offer them food for at least a week after aquireing them. I had the same problem with one of my hognoses I got in a pair a couple of years ago. The female eats like a pig & has never refused a meal, while in shed would be the only exception. The male on the other hand ate once or twice a week or two after I got them & then refused to eat for two or three months.
What I would try first is leave a live pink mouse in his cage over night or place him & the live pinkie in a deli cup overnight. You can also try frozen/thaw & split brain as well. This has worked for me with several other new snakes.
You can also try reducing the cage size & add some hideing places. I know baby snakes can get a little intimidated & scared if there in to big of a cage. My male ended up being happy as a clam just in a 4" by 8" critter keeper.
If that doesn't work & he refuses to eat for a month lets say, you can try takeing him off heat & slowly cooling him down to the mid to upper 60s for a short time. Only for about 3 to 5 weeks then slowly over the corse of 2 weeks work him back up to his normal temp. this is what ended up working for my male, know he prefers to have the live mice (he's up to fuzzies know) just placed in his cage & will go for it in about 2 to 5 minutes.
There are probaly many other tricks you can try. I'd recomend trying different things & see what works. But first give him a little more time to settle in.
Good luck.

Thanks for your help. I am sure he will be fine, i just needed some backup help and advice for the future should he not eat. I'll keep people posted!

Ok Im getting tired of hearing this same problem all the time here. (This is not a personal attack on you just my personal feelings on this matter.)First off I don’t know why so many people still buy snakes that are problem feeders. Do you really get a great deal on them to make it worth all the problems you go through? and if the snakes are sold to you as feeding well then why is it that people don’t go right back to the person that sold them to you and work it out with them and if they don’t get what they were supposed to get then send the snake back and buy one with no problems and from a good breeder that will honor their guarantee 100%. Then we won’t keep seeing all these posts about these poor snakes not feeding or having other problems and people getting away with selling reptiles that should not be sold until they are ready to be sold. Or if people want to buy these snakes with these problem so they can save a few bucks, then don’t cry to every one else when they don’t do well for you. I do guarantee all my reptiles 100% and I would be very offended if I saw someone on here asking other people how to get a snake that was bought from me how to get it to feed for them.
PS I also get lots of email asking me if I can help people out with their problem snakes and I am ALWAYS more then happy to help them out but only for the sake and well being of the snake. I wish every one would let us know whom or were they get these snakes so that others can stay away from those kinds of people.
And if this is only my openion then I sure would love to be straitened out on this matter. Ok thats my venting for the month! I’m ok now…

JIM
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www.westernhognose.com

Dude, back off. I was asking for tips and tricks from other experienced hognose owners. I have had problem feeders in the past and i jsut wanted to know what works best for these guys. It is the ranting of other users that make other people hesitant to put up a comment. Would you rather have someone post something even though its a common question or have them not post it and have their snake get sick and die? Experience and knowledge is a gift that should be shared.

First off as I said, this is not a personal attack aimed at you so please don’t be offended. So were did you get the snake? Did you contact them about this? Did they help you out? I just hate to see people get ripped off and then they don’t want to tell on the person that did it so they just keep getting away with it. When I have bought a snake from someone and then there is a problem I contact them to work it out. If they don’t do the right thing then I would let others know so they can watch out for them. But if they stand by their deal then there would never be a need to ask others for help. Imp sure there are always going to be other reasons for asking for help and that fine, but I would like to deal with the bad people as well.

JIM
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www.westernhognose.com

I think Jim, your are just having a bad day. The problem is just the breed of snake we are dealing with. People are use to boas and rat snakes that are garbage disposals, hogs in general require a lot more patience. I have a 1000.00 dollar snake of yours that I bought from a dealer that had him a week before I bought him that ate twice and then would not eat again for two years. It now has eaten twelve pinks and has stopped again eventually it will come around or it won’t. It’s not your fault; it was healthy when you sold it. I have clutches one year no problem everyone eats, and the next time I’m pulling out my hair. But that’s what makes them so much fun and challenging. I have at least 50 westerns and most don’t give me much trouble, but there are a few. These are not a no brainier snake! So it’s not just the breeder it’s the breed. Tom

Intersting set up Tom. What kind of tubs are those and I'm assuming they back heat?
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Louie

Even though there are several people on this forum that are extremely knowledgeable and more people that have feeding tricks, but anyone on the internet must be able to find out what to scent with and how to feed things without asking anyone.
Also, as someone trying to find out more about hogs, I do find it kind of annoying to read about how someones snake hasn't eaten for a relatively short period of time every couple of posts.

I agree with Tom it's not the breeder it's the breed.
The one thing I wish people would do is a little home work. Buy a few books on snakes and how to care for them.
It blows me away some of the basic questions people ask that could have been researched out of a basic "how to take care of your snake" book.
But it's always good to remember how it felt when you first started out too. This forum will always have beginner questions and you can choose to answer or skip it.

-Dell

Yellowstone river Western Hognose females

The one thing I remember growing up with my parents, whenever I had a question, the answer was always “look it up “so yes I get where Jim is coming from. When I got my first hog I read every single post on hognose forum and in the search area thought of every question I could think of and found most of my answers there first before I bothered to ask anyone else though the new search function on kingsnake sucks bigtime. And to address Jim’s other though that we would like people to buy from reputable dealers but the fact is that the people hue ask these questions probably got there snake from a pet shop or reptile show and have no idea the history of the animal they bought. so they are always going to be here asking that same question ( my hognose isn’t eating ).
Maybe kingsnake could put an FAQ. at the top of the page for newbie’s. Ok I’m done. Tom.

FAQ section a top the page is wonderful idea. How could make this happen?
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Louie

A faq sheet would be great! Kevin

Jim,I would have to agree with Tom on the breed of snake we are working with. I bought 5 baby mexican hogs last year that weren't eating on they're own and were advertised as such and the first day I got them all five ate f/t brained pinks??? Hognoses are so fossorial that its going to take a long time to figure these guys out completeley,if at all. I used to think easterns and southerns were the toughest,but after owning them I realize they aren't. It seems the westerns and kennerly will eat like pigs and then fast for months with no explanation. I get emails all the time from people wanting to know how I get all my southerns to eat and I just tell them how I have mine setup and tricks I use. Heres a pic of and old w/c male southern from south carolina that I got switched to rat pinks,but he eventually gave up the ghost,probably from old age and parasites. "R.I.P. Dude" I did my best with him! Kevin

I forgot to mention that the questions from people about how to get they're southern hogs to eat pinks are all from people who got southerns elsewhere which I am more than happy to try and help out. I'm glad I only sold 3 out of the 13 I hatched because their not for everybody. If you don't have these guys setup just right your in trouble. All 10 of my 06 babies eat ravenously on unscented!!! I hope it stays that way. Kevin

That's why I don't own any southerns yet! I need to do more research before owning one.
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Louie

Louie we could make you a video of how to feed a southern and e-mail it to you.

I'm not too worried about the feeding part. I would like more of how to sex them and housing requirements. Breeding?
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Louie

Just got this little guy on Sat (he shed the day i got him and ate 3 days prior to me getting him). I was told to feed him to brain the pinkies and he would eat right outta my hand and then chain feed a few more to him. He has NO interest in the food or me for that matter so i dont see how he would take anything outta my hands. He is a constant hisser and has "played dead" twince since i have had him and i have done little to provoke it. Any tips before i start to get really worried about him? I have heard of senting with toads but he has been fed without it and i dont want to have to rely on that method.

First off,whatever you do,don't hold your baby hog! Wait for that when you have established a firm feeding pattern with it. Second,make sure he has a good places to hide where you can still sneak in the cage and offer a f/t pink while he thinks hes hidden and know one can see him. Also,I would not use my hands to feed because your hand is much larger coming towards they're face with a pinky than a set of forceps. Baby hogs are skittish,they want to eat alot of the time,but will quickly go from feeding mode to scared out of they're minds mode too. The fact that your hog plays dead means you have a really healthy hog,hes acting natural. Kevin

Sorry. I didnt mean for this thread to get outta control BUT i wanted you guys to know that the hoggie, whoes post this was orignially about, has eatten. One week after getting him he was offered one live and one split brain pinkie, placed in a smaller "arry around" tank and left with a towel over top to give him some privacy. 10-15 minutes later i hear a squeek. I check on him, and he has already eatten the dead and is now taking on the live! I tossed in another live pink and he had his way with that one too.

Thank you so much for all of your help. Those who gave possitive additude are the reasons why we 'in need of help' feel that this is the place to go.