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This questions concerns my tricolor hog male 8 months old. I have a bit of experience training lizard eaters and frog eaters to eat unscented pinks.. I have a lyre which now eats unscented pinks and originally ate only live lizards.. also 2 tricolor hogs... the female one is robust and voracious and now eats unscented large f/t pinks. She is huge. The male of the pair has always been a problem feeder and smaller but strong and healthy. The male initially ate only live small frogs.... after about 7 months of scenting and other more extreme measures i had him eating scented f/t pinks pretty well then all of sudden he stopped eating about 1 month ago.. not even interested in f/t frog which once drove him crazy and i used for bait/and/switch feeding sometimes or draping on ft pink... he still looks robust and has nice muscle tone after 1 month... perhaps the temp drop has affected him? (southern california winter) Or photoperiods or something? He has localized under-aquarium heater but prefers the cold side of his enclosure--- i am still not totally worried about it ... just a bit mystified -- i am thinking perhaps he needs to be brumated for a bit or someting? Anyone have any ideas or recommendations? Just after he seemed disinterested in eating i transferred him to his own 10 gallon aquarium with coco substrate, 2 hides, water and fake plants...If necessary i can add my feeding log for him... Thanks in advance

Born May 24, 2010
Refused to eat anything (tried scented, frog slurry scenting, brained and live pinkys, chain feeding, bait/switch, small feeding cage, etc.) until June 23 when he finally ate a small live frog.
June through Sept only ate live small frogs
Aug 17 shed
Sept 22 Ate first f/t frog
Oct 12 1 mouse tail stuffed f/t frog
Oct 15 1 mouse tail stuffed f/t frog
Oct 20 1 whole small f/t pinky shoved into a f/t frog
Oct 25 Ate 1 whole large washed scented f/t pinky with small frog draped over head -
Nov 1 Ate 1 whole large washed scented f/t pinky with small frog draped over head -
Nov 4 Refused 1 small f/t fuzzy
Nov 5 Ate 1 washed scented f/t pinky with bit of frog skin on head
Nov 8 Appears to have entered shed cycle -- refused scented f/t pinky with frog skin on head
Nov 16 Shed. Ate washed scented f/t pinky and did not eat frog piece I put on pinky’s head
Nov 21. Refused f/t scented pinky
Nov 25 Refused f/t scented
Dec 6 Refused f/t scented
Dec 11 Refused f/t scented at first. Then I draped it with more frog parts on head and he promptly ate the frog parts. Then I put some frog skin around the f/t scented pinky and he ate it – it just needed a bit more frog on it I guess.
Dec 23 Refused f/t soaked in slurry for 2 days and draped with frog skin on head.
Dec 26 Refused f/t scented and draped with frog skin under head.
Jan 6 Refused washed f/t pink scented and draped with frog skin under tail and head.

He seems to have only eaten 1x each of the last two months... is it natural for tricolors to show down their eating when it gets a bit colder?

did , you feed your snake frogs,or toads ?

nice tricolor hog in your pic! He ate frogs mostly... some toads... i have a senting slurry i use of frogs... also i have a couple of frozen frogs i use for skin patches.... usually he will try to eat the frog parts off of 12" foreceps or even while being held in my hand and hand fed....but recently he just went off feed

Recently i transferred them both to their own 10 gallon tanks (before they shared a plexi bifurcated 10 gallon tank)... The male had not eaten for a couple of weeks at the time i gave him his 10 gallon tank with coco substrate... last attempted feeding i put him in a vented shoe box with a hide and moist paper towel substrate... he totally ignored the food and the frog parts.... weird....

I am just wondering if it is normal for them to eat way less during certain parts of the year or at certain temps?! Mine is lystrophis pulcher and i think their range is temperate pampas in argentina and brazil.... i do not think they need to be brumated but his behavior almost seems similar to my montane kingsnake... though the other female tricolor is still eating like a piglet...

Any suggestions for what i should do?

YOU CAN TRY THIS MAKE SURE YOUR HOGNOSE IS KEPT AT A ROOM TEM. OF 73-75 CANNED SALMON,OR TOADS WORKED FOR ME IN THE PASSED OR TRY A PINK FIRST ... TRY RUBBING THE TOAD ACROSS THE PINKY FOR SCENTING. BEST OF LUCK

Thanks... i'll warm him up a bit and try that canned salmon scenting... i do hope that works... otherwise i will get out and try to find an early toad

keep me posted, good luck...

If you are feeding toads, he may have contracted parasites. Also, no additional heat is required if the ambient temps are between 75 and 80. If kept to warm, they can go off feed as well. Brumation is unnecessary for Tricolors. Mine do not go through "slow" periods. The only time my males have gone off food is when breeding, and that is still more of they skip a week. Try a live pink dipped in the water from a can of tuna. The smell combined with the movement should peek his interest. First thing I would do is check for parasites though.

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Jenea
Guardian Reptiles

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