Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a late hatch '06 female normal Western that eats, well --- pardon the pun, --- like a hog. Last time I weighed her she was right @ 200g. This last feeding session she ate a rat fuzzy, small adult mouse and a hopper (refused by my Glossy snake), AND still appeared hungry. I know on the Kingsnake (getula) forum there are those that advocate feed as much as the snake will eat. While this strategy will work w/ Kings (esp. WC)will it work w/ a future breeder fem. Hog who's yet to reach her adult size?

reako45

We have done both
1) Feed every 4 days an items that they can fully digest in 4 days.
2) Feed many items till they are full once a week or ten days.

I think the smaller meals more often gets the best results, we have had some real Hogs that constantly try to get our attention for thirds on feeding day. I was trying to get a late season female up to size this spring and she developed fat cheeks,we had to slow her down. End result should be good quick growth without excess fat.

You are wise to be cautious-you do NOT want to give a female hog all she will eat. It's a fine balancing act, too little and she won' ovulate, but too much and she'll be too fat to breed! I attribute most of my past breeding failures with hogs to overfeeding the females (when I first started with hognose, all my experience had been with rats, kings and milks).
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

Thank you so much guys for the help. It is greatly appreciated. I know now not to treat her like a King. I have her on a 5-7 day feeding regimen w/ 2 food items (large rat fuzzies or small adult mice) @ chow time.

reako45

My advice is always to go to Justim Mitchams website, read his care sheet and follow it religiously. It has certainly worked for me.
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Greg Jackson