Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I wont comment on how I'm doing it for the moment. How do you guys feed your Western Hognose from birth right into adulthood? Really interested to hear from people that have been keeping and breeding for at least a number of years if possible.

K.

I feed all my westerns twice a week....usually Wed and Sat. I find that warm temps (90 high side) and regular bi-weekly feeding keeps them happy and growing consistently. I have a 22 month old female that is 230 grams and a 10 month old female that is 80 grams using this schedule. The males are obviously smaller, and eat smaller mice, but are on the same schedule. I really don't know how that compares with others (weight) but it seems to work great for my collection.

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Greg Jackson

I feed all mine twice a week, but only small food items.
I had 2 females i got in april 08, both approc 40 grammes when i got them, although they were 07's, by december they were both approx 280 g's each.
The male who i aquired at the same time, is now still only 80g's

When you guys say small meals can you more more specific? With larger snakes that aren't fed as often I aim for a single food item equal to around the girth of the snake. I have been feeding my Westerns semi-weekly also so should I aim for items half the girth?

I feed items about equal to girth. After they have eaten, you can tell they ate, but don't see a defines bulge. My 280g 07 female eats full grown mice, twice weekly usually. Occasionally, she will turn down a meal, but not often.

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Greg Jackson

Sounds good. That's what I've been doing. I was just wondering if I was feeding too much. One of my '09 females started out at 6" just under 5 months ago who is now 11.5". She'll have doubled her size in 6 months!