Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 1.1 western hognoses the female is noticeably larger than the male. Both was born in 2003. I feed them f/t small adult mice every 5-7 days. And everydays 3 days I notice they defecate. Has anyone ever noticed this with their hognoses? Do the hognoses have a higher metabolism than other snakes.

thanks,
john
North West Georgia Herp Society

My hognose will pass waste like that as well during those times of the year when he feeds well. But as to your question about whether their metabolism is higher than other colubrids, well, I invite you to keep a Florida king or Cal king. Darn things will defecate all the time, especially when young. Constant cage cleaning with those guys. That is one perk of keeping my rosy boas.. cage stays clean for quite awhile. (Of course, rosies just sit there.. not a real active snake, but I like that
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Mark G

I know my cali kings do go alot and often. I still love the hogs though they are my comedians in my collection. My pythons have a really slow metabolism. I would like to have some red western hogs and albino hogs to breed some day.

thanks,
jc

The link between the rate of digestion and to whether a snake has a high metabolism is not exact. Digestive rates are directly limited by the temperature at which a snake is kept and rate of digestion is directly proportional to the temperature.
Additionally there is some literature that indicates that some snakes may retain digested material to provide ballest for stability when striking at prey (such as some viperids). While this may not apply to hognose, it indicates that the rate or frequency of elimination should not be used to gauge a snakes metabolic rate.
If you are interesting in approximating the snakes metabolic rate then I refer you to the equation and table published on page 150 (and further explained on page 151) of Reptile Medicine and Surgery by Douglas R. Mader.

Ed