Reptile & Amphibian Forums

It has been 55 days since my snake has ate. He is 10 inches long and less then a year old. He is more active, but still not eating. He has no interest in his food, and all he does when I open the tank is his and puff up, and become agitated, where he doesnt settled down until 20 minutes later, and he goes back to his lair.
Any advice, tips on feeding? I know forcefeeding stresses out the snake. He looks healthy and vibrant, but he is getting skinny.

Please give us more info... What are you feeding him and how do you have him set up?

~ Mike Russo

He is in a 5 gallon tank. 2/3 of the floor is covered in cypress chips, the 1/3 is a reptile carpet which has the water dish. On the one side of the aquarium, their is a basking lamp (60 watt), which heats up this pile of rocks i put in the corner. Under this rock pile, is a small heat mat that covereds about 1/6 of the tank. I do not know the temperatures, but know their is a warm side and cool side of the tank.
He was feeding on pinkies, but now only smells them and slither away. I tried scenting with a goldfish, and a treefrog, but still no interest. However, he is not lethargic, and his color is still vibrant (also just shed a week ago).

Well, not to be mean or anything, but without temps, you really haven't told us anything very useful.
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Jenea
Guardian Reptiles

"When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave" Author unknown

I think you should try putting him in a larger tank, or turning off the lamp & just use the under tank heater. A 60w bulb is too much heat on a 5 gallon tank, he really dosnt have access to a cool end. Mabey get a thermometer or temp gun.

Do you feed him in the tank? Have you tried feeding him in a deli cup?

D.E.

I feed mine in a deli cup in a dark warm area. If that doesn't work I have a toad I rub on the pinkies or fuzzies. Leave them in the dark warm area with the food and don't disturb them. Wait a couple of hours then check on them.

Well, as others have said... you should really know the temps in your tank..

Also, i am not a fan of using light bulbs to heat (most) snakes, but a 60 watt bulb along a 5 gallon tak is WAY too much! not to mention that you have a heat pad on there heating things up as well...

Please, get some temps and get back to us..

~ Mike Russo

My bad it was only a 40 watt basking bulb. I dont think the tank is hot enough, since he is always on the warm side. The lamp only heats up the 1/3 part of the tank,which is located on one end. The cool side is relatively cool, (right now these are all qualitative measurements). I am going to try to feed him in a different container and place him in a warm area. One of my biggest problems, is when I wake him up, he gets hissy and puffs up, and won't relax until 20-30 minutes later. Then he goes back to his lair, with out looking at the food.
I will try to get the temperature measurements as soon as I can, but I left all my thermometers at home, so it wont be until a week.

give advice without worrying about
what your temps are, I will.

Take a frozen pinkie, thaw it/ defrost it,(whatever)
once it gets to room temp,(or slightly above)
cut it straight down the middle (THE LONG WAY) with a
decent pair of scissors.

Offer both halves to your Hognose.
See if that works, 9X out of 10 it will.

GOOD LUCK!!.

this meal is best served overnight.

I am trying this method as i am typing. Hopefully it will work!! He looked especially skinny today. However, he drank some of the pinky fluid the tuna juice.

I disagree with using under tank heaters for hognoses. They are strictly diurnal and will burrow underground to escape high heat (see Dwight Plat, 1969). Although I am not under any false illusions about there being anything natural about four glass walls, using only an UTH is completely unnatural for hogs.

Most people I see on here don't keep their hogs warm enough. Though, I agree with the others that even a 40 W may be too much. I always advocate the use of 20 gal long tanks for the sake of providing a PROPER temperature gradient. Use a 60 or 75 watt bulb on one end and aim for 95-100F. A 5 gal is completely too small, regardless of the snake's size.

Since hogs are diurnal, they benefits of using a full spectrum bulb (even the incandescent bulbs) are probably underestimated. While you are at the store buying a 20 gal tank, pick up a full spectrum bulb while you're at it.

Scenting techniques are bountiful. What seems to work the best is tuna.

Otherwise, eliminate handling, remove all visual stressors (such as if the tank is in a high traffic area), and feed him in a dark container.
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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

I dont think i am going to run out and by a 20 gallon yet, it seems to much money for and a quick decesion. He was fine in the 5 gallon for 2 weeks after i got him, and ate on scedule. Since I moved back to my dorm, he hasnt ate, so I brumated him for a month in a half. The only feeding responce I got, is when I tried a clawed frog, which hopped out of his water bowl and into the substrate. He raced towards it. However, I got scared, since it was covered in substrate and took it out. Now, he hasnt been interested in any food.
When I go home for spring break, I may be able to obtain some wild toads, from relatively rural areas. Is it advisable to use these guys for prey items, or just scenting?
In addition, the way the petstore (which i worked at) were keeping our snakes, we had the heat mat and lights on for 8 hours a day, and turned them off at night. However, the ambient night temp was probaly above 75 F. Do you think I should try this?

The problem is, with out temps, you don't know what the heat gradiant is or if there even is one. You are really just guessing at a warm and a cool without factual data. If your animal is as skinny as you say, and you are as worried as you appear, you need to make sure the husbandry is correct and not guess. If he is to hot, you could very easily be dehydrating the little guy, and dehydrated snakes go off food. If he is to cool and he does eat, then he could have trouble digesting his food and it could spoil in his stomach. Both scenerios can cause death. If you are not willing to double check your husbandry and make sure you are providing the correct temps, then no feeding trick in the world is going to help until the husbandry is corrected.

Just because he did well the first two weeks means nothing except he was well when you got him. Now that he has been in the environment you are providing for a while, he is not doing well. Check the evironment! Check the temps! $10 can get you a decent digital thermomator at Walmart. Not trying to sound harsh, but if you are not willing to do something as simple as making sure he has the correct temps, then he my not be the right pet for you.

Sorry, but there are lots of people on here that would be more than willing to help you out, but you seem unwilling to even answer the simplest and most basic of snake care questions....what are the temps? Just a bee in my bonnet ....sorry for the rant.
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Jenea
Guardian Reptiles

"When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave" Author unknown

before this becomes an issue of being the perfect owner, and what i am willing to to for my pet, i found someone in my dorm who may have a thermometer (for terrariums), also i be able to secure a 33 gallon long (way to big though, idk where i would put it, but may divide it in half), or a 15 gallon from my friend.

It really is not a matter of being a perfect owner, but there are very simple things you can do to make you a better one. Sounds like your to a good start.

I really do hope he does well for you.
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Jenea
Guardian Reptiles

"When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave" Author unknown

I am baffled by some of your statements. A 33 gal is too big, so you'll divide it in half? What are you basing this on? How will a tank that is too large be detrimental? We know the snake doesn't want to eat in a 5 gal, it stands to reason it'll do much better in even a 33 gal. Also, a 20 gal is not expensive relative to the cost of a single visit to the vet. Fact is that ALL animals will get sick and die, a vet visit is inevitable. If you are not willing or able to have the funds on hand for a proper sized tank, much less a vet bill, then I am concerned about the hog's future well-being.

Let me make another point. A healthy animal will not let itself starve to death in the presence of food. Clearly something is amiss, and with it being in a 5 gal tank, it's easy to assume that husbandry is less than suitable. With that, I never recommend using wild caught live toads for feeders. It would be acceptable, however, to use them for scenting. Compared to other scenting techniques, however, I've had only scant success with using toads anyway.

>>In addition, the way the petstore (which i worked at) were keeping our snakes, we had the heat mat and lights on for 8 hours a day, and turned them off at night. However, the ambient night temp was probably above 75 F. Do you think I should try this?

Again, what was the temp during the day? 8 hours is on the low side of the proper photoperiod. In order to make your snake "think" it's summer, try ~12hrs.
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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

Commenting on your post..

After experimenting a bit with overhead heat and various species of snakes, it is evident that overhead heating is very effective with many types of snakes.

Infrared bulbs and ceramic bulbs will heat snakes (like kingsnakes) buried just under the substrate surface, meaning that they can stay mostly concealed and still warm up. Going deeper equates to cooler temps.

I can achieve much better temperature gradients using overhead heat compared to undertank heat. By better, I mean a gradual gradient from very warm to room temp (or even less) because the tank bottom under the substrate can stay cooler than the air for awhile up until the late morning.

I have to agree with your post.
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Mark

Mark, that is some great information! I appreciate the supporting observations. Now if we can just get someone to experiment with eating & non-eating snakes with UTH or overhead light.
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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

I finally took the temperatures. My room is about 65 F, the cool end of the tank is 78 degrees, the warm end was 95 degrees F. However, to the defense of the heat mat, he is always under the piece of slate which covers the heatmat area (their is bedding in between them). In addition, this same rock absorbs most of the basking heat. I do give him a cool spot hide, but he rarely goes there.
Now to colchicine " am baffled by some of your statements. A 33 gal is too big, so you'll divide it in half? What are you basing this on? ", the only answer I have to this is

1. Smaller enclosure is easier to regulate and accomodate, the 33 gallon has the same base as a standard 55 gallon. In addition if the snake happens to be sick, i want to simplify its housing.

2. Numerous caresheets state that snakes feel unsecure in open areas, which include bigger tanks, yes, I can make it a natural type tank with a bunch of rocks, and hiding places, but this would only make things more difficult, locating the snake, and feeding the snake.

Also I just placed a split brain pinkie in the cool end. Hopefully he will decide to come out.