Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

My wife has 3 western hogs. The two females are feeding just fine, but the male has not taken any food in about 1 month now. Their conditions are all the same and the male in question is a c.b. 2008.

They are in a glass enclosure, low large water dish, some newspaper/aspen bedding to burrow. Temps are around 78-84 w/ a hot spot of about 88-90. Night temps are about 5 degrees lower...

The male that’s not eating has only been feed f/t mice pinkies/fuzzies. I tried putting him a paper bag overnight with no success. Not too sure if anyone has any tricks/methods to get them feeding?

Any suggestions and/or comments on the set up?

Thank you,

Eric
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Eric

Try scenting a food item with tuna fish water and see what happens. That sometimes triggers them back into feeding.
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Remember, you truly only say goodbye in death!

It is actually quite common for a male to go off of food for up to several months during the mating season.

If he is fasting because of this, just be patient and monitor his weight. While he might lose some weight during his mating fast, I wouldn't worry too much if his weight loss stays less than 15% of his normal body weight. Any more than that and you might want to consider other alternatives of getting him to eat.

Also, only offer him food once per 7-10 days if he's fasting. Introducing food every day will not entice him to eat and might even prove counterproductive turning him off of food for an even longer period.

Good luck!
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles

>>It is actually quite common for a male to go off of food for up to several months during the mating season.
>>
>>If he is fasting because of this, just be patient and monitor his weight. While he might lose some weight during his mating fast, I wouldn't worry too much if his weight loss stays less than 15% of his normal body weight. Any more than that and you might want to consider other alternatives of getting him to eat.
>>
>>Also, only offer him food once per 7-10 days if he's fasting. Introducing food every day will not entice him to eat and might even prove counterproductive turning him off of food for an even longer period.
>>
>>Good luck!
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>>Troy Rexroth
>>Rextiles
>>
>>

I am not an expert on hogs but if the snake is only an 08 why would it go into a mating response as its not even a sub adult and still a neonate?

I would go with scenting or a braining of a pink.

Hope this helps.
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Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."

Depending on how he is fed, he could already be an adult and breeding now. Hogs are what I like to call stomache snakes. Keep them warm and you can feed them and have them breeding in a year no problem.
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Remember, you truly only say goodbye in death!

Exactly my point Charles!

Saying that the animal was an '08 really tells us very little about how old the snake actually is. For all I know, it could have been hatched in January of '08 which would make it over a year old which for a male and if he's of the right size could be ready for breeding. Even male hognose younger than that can be fed regularly enough to put on enough weight to breed in less time than a year. Is this advisable to do so? Not entirely, but it's probable and possible.

But I was merely hypothesizing for this male in question. Hognose in general regardless of sex can go off of food for whatever reasons until they are good and ready to eat again. I have an '07 female that back in '08 went off of food a few times which lasted anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. Only the last 5 months has she decided to eat more regularly and when she does choose to eat, she's a voracious eater until she decides to fast again. With males, this fasting behavior can be more common.

Another hypothesis to consider in regards to the breeding fasting for this male is the fact that there are two females. The OP is very vague about several key issues. He states that "They are in a glass enclosure" which technically means all 3 snakes are within one enclosure. Is this what he actually meant? If that is actually the case, it could help to understand a bit better if this male was triggered into a breeding response by ovulating females. The OP also does not state the age/size of the females, so we have very little to go on there as well.

Another key element would be the size of the male which was also not stated. Knowing the size might help to also determine the risk factor involved and also to know just how much weight is being lost if any. It's not unheard of for several species of snakes to go off of food during a juvenile stage for a short duration. In fact, I've noticed several of my hogs exhibiting this behavior when they would typically reach sizes between 30-50 grams.

Despite all this hypothesizing and whatnot, the best thing for the OP to do is to monitor the snakes weight on a weekly basis and try to determine if there is actually a risk involved with it's fasting before trying alternative methods to getting it to eat again.
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Troy Rexroth
Rextiles