Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I own a 8 month old female western hognose. She used to eat every 4 days on the dot, then she had to shed and did not eat for 10 days. The day after she shed she ate 1 pinky and then again 4 days later she ate another, but after that nothing. It has now been 10 days and i am just growing concerned, so i thought that i would take her to the vet for a parasite check.

Are there any good herp vets in Vanvouver WA????

10 days for a hognose is nothing to worry about. Give her another week or so then try feeding her again. Hognose are known to go off feed for months at a time. Sorry I can't help on the vet question.
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Louie

my girl just ate after 6 weeks of refusing, and everything is fine. I didn't worry about a vet because she was still bright and active and wasn't losing weight. If I were you I would just try agin next week, and the week after.... sometimes you have to be patient with these guys, not like my FL king that would eat every day if you let him!

I agree completely with the others, although I highly recommend getting a parasite check, 10 days is not nearly enough to be concerned. I would also recommend cutting down how much you feed the snake, as I honestly believe hognoses can be overfed. Chances are it has met its caloric demands and is taking a break from constantly digesting food. The vast majority of snakes in the wild, across all species, have empty stomachs when caught. Hognoses do not need to eat every four days!
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Virginia Herping
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VaHS
Virginia Herpetological Society
http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS

... nature has ceased to be what it always had been - what people needed protection from. Now nature - tamed, endangered, mortal - needs to be protected from people. When we are afraid, we shoot. But when we are nostalgic, we take pictures.
Susan Sontag

I have a female hog and she is the same age as yours. I would feed her every week and all of a sudden she quit eating and became real picky. This went on for months and months now she will eat every 2 or 3 weeks but she is still real picky. She has not lost any weight and I try to feed her every week still but you can't make a snake eat, it will only eat when it wants to so I would not worry about her.

So when you say picky, what exactly do you mean??

My Western Hog is refusing to eat right now. She hasn't eaten in 1.5 months. It is normal for snakes to know that it is winter and many can go "off" eating until the normal spring... even when it is warm inside. It is also normal for my hog to go "off" eating because it just plain feels like fasting. It can be frustrating after offering food week after week after week. Just keep the water filled during these times.... and be really patient.
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Paul

All great advice, still, it's good to find a vet before it's needed. Call around, and ask for referals. Also visit www.arav.com for a list of herp vets in Washington and go from there.

Ian