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ok heres my setup,,i have a 10 gallon tank with aspen shavings as bottom with a water dish on one side with a 50 watt heat lamp on the same side as the water dish.what is the average size of a female hatchling? do you guys think mine has ever eaten before if it is only 7 inches or so? because i cant get it feeding..please let me know thanks
Jeff
There is hardly ever an enclosure that is too big for a captive animal!! A 10 gallon is great. The only thing I would change is to move the heat lamp away from the water bowl, warm water will breed bacteria!
What methods have you tried to get the hognose to eat, and how long as it been since it has eaten?
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)
I've always found that it's easier to get a hatchling to start feeding if its in a smaller enclosure. Also, you gotta be patient with them. It took me 6 weeks last year to get my female western hog to take a pinky, even though it had eaten twice when I bought it. In fact, it has only been since April of this year (I bought the snake in September) that I've gotten it to feed consistently. Now it eats like a pig. Good Luck!!!
I think that it is possible to have an enclosure that is larger then ideal for captive snakes... I don't have tons of experience with hogs yet, but I know that my ball pythons will not feed well if they are kept in an enclosure that is too large.
When the baby balls outgrow their shoeboxes and are moved into blanket boxes they will usually fast for a bit, too much space can make they feel insecure.
The key to keeping snakes in a "smaller" enclosure is that you HAVE to keep it very clean. Hygiene is very important in any enclosure, but it's even more important in smaller ones.
So putting your hog in something the size of a rubbermaid plastic shoebox could possibly help in my opinion... worth a try at least.
Good luck.
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-Ross Payan - www.LeosAnonymous.com
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