Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my hognose for about 8 months now, and he's usually been a good eater. I've had him go a month before without eating but then he usually eats. He is about 12inches long, and probably right around a year or so (does that sound accurate for age?) He has not eaten for about a month and half, and I am wondering if that's something I should expect going into the winter months. There is a bit of temp drop no matter what I do, as I live in Philly and my apartment is affected by the outside weather. I have a Jungle Carpet Python also and she will refuse food for up to 3 months once winter starts. I've offered my hognose snake plenty of pinkies and fuzzies, but he seems uninterested. Is this bad, out of the ordinary? Should I be worried as we press toward two months without food? I appreciate any help you can offer or advice you can give. Thank you for your time.

You could benefit by doing more research on hognoses, and by visiting this forum on a regular basis. You can find on this forum alone a ubiquity of posts by people concerned about their nonfeeding hognoses. 1 1/2 months is not at all unusual, and not feeding for three to six months is not unheard of either.

Temperature drop: I am not sure why a temperature drop is not correctable. What ever heat source he has can certainly be adjusted, if it cannot, it is time to upgrade to a larger UTH (w/ a rheostat or thermostat) or simply increase the wattage of the bulb. The hognose should certainly have access to a supplemental heat source even at night.

My advice for the future: acquire a digital scale so that you can keep accurate weights on the snake. This will let you know if the animal is simply going into a "winter lethargy"; or if a noticeable weight loss occurs, that the animal is sick & in need of veterinary care. You should also get your snakes tested for parasites on a biannual basis so that it can be ruled out as a possible source of the anorexia. Otherwise, don't sweat it, and don't offer it food too often or else it will become a disruption. Just try once every two weeks. Good luck.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

THANK YOU, AND I APPRECIATE YOUR ADVICE. I'VE DONE MY SHARE FOR READING, BUT OBVIOUSLY NEED TO READ MORE. THANKS AGAIN FOR SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE.

...is giving him a light wiht a timer, and giving him 12 or more hours of LIGHT to reset his pineal eye. when my eastern hog has seemingly gone off feed for no reason in the winter, even if he is warm, its usually because of the shortened hours of daylight.
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- Happy herping!

KE

You brought up an excellent subject, but unfortunately your theory does not hold up. Snakes do not have pineal eyes. Nonetheless, it stands to reason that exposure to summer photoperiods, and even full spectrum lighting could benefit an anorexic snake. You brought up a good point that a lot of organisms have their seasonal activities dictated by the photoperiod, and not necessarily the available heat.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

for some reason I thought hogs did....not sure why. My bad.
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- Happy herping!

KE

np

i wouldn't worry about it at all. i have 8 hogs. last year one of them just stopped eating after it had chowed for 8 months. i knew it would start eating again, probably in a couple of weeks or so. it took 6 months. the heat was fine, he was hydrated, i went to scented items, and nothing.

i fed him every other week, as not to waste a lot of food items or $$$. finally he started back up and hasn't stopped since. he is an eating machine.

as far as the weather, if your temps are dropping you have to keep them up especially for your jungle. it could really affect him. the hog can tolerate it to some extent, but if you plan on feeding him year round the temps need to be 85-88 in a hot spot.

i think no matter what you do, the changes in barametric pressure, etc... has an affect on reptiles. i have had, on many occasions, snakes and lizards go off of feed when the temps were the same. while outside, winter was approaching and the temps were dropping significantly.

just my .02 !

aaron

I volunteer to a lady at a local wildlife lodge that keeps hognose snakes and her snakes quit eating everywinter. They start eating again right after winter and yours will most likely do fine. If that doesn't assure your confidence in your snakes health then get him to a vet but you will most likely find out that your hognose is perfectly healthy. Also you should keep your hognose warm year-around no matter how cold the weather gets. Also try feeding him toads his favorite food. If you can get native toads he would like those better. In all cases your snake is more likely healthy if he ate good before and he will do just fine as soon as temperatures outside increase.

no reason to change the feed items unless you think your hog is gonna die if it doesn't eat, because that just makes your job harder. If he gets his heart set on toads then you get to have all the fun of switching him back to rodents...or trying to catch his food for the rest of his life. I just met 2 copperheads that have gone 2 YEARS, yes years, without eating. I don't know how they are still alive, they are emaciated and going to be put down soon but they are still alive and alert. So don't worry about a couple of months
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Sue

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
2.2 mini rex rabbits (Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitty (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with boyfriend

Alls good my 04 spent 5 months with out food and is eating fine now.My 03 male went off last but they seem come back on there own.
Chris Schott