[stacie]

hi if had my adult male hognose for about a year, he is no longer feeding this has carried on for six months now.
can any1 give me any advice?
ive tried him on pinkies, fluffs and adult mice. ive tried them all cold and warm.
ive also tried leaving him in the dark for a length of time but nothing seem to be working.
can you help?

 

[Razaiel]

My adult female has just finished her fast (3 months). From October/November they seem do this and the general advice to me when mine started was to cool her down. 6 months sounds quite a long time though (does he look OK and have you been weighing him? - mine lost approx 30g but she was fat). I expect some of the more experienced hognose keepers will come in on this one (Pendlehog).

 

[stacie]

Iv not weighed him (big downfall, stupid me) but he is very active and is almost as thou hes looking for food but never takes.

 

[Razaiel]

Mine acted like that as well, does he look in good shape and nicely rounded? I'm not an expert on hoggies not eating (I've only had my adult for a year and she was already an adult when I got her). Hopefully someone will say if 6 months is anything to worry about.

 

[stacie]

yup still in really good shape

 

[carl24bpool]

Not sure what people think but six months is quite a while.

Have you tried braining (exposing the brain) the prey item???

Apart from this prehaps you will have to go to the last resort and try live food once or twice and wean him back off it.

I have no idea where you can get live fuzzies from though.


This is off topic but as good a place as any to ask I suppose:

Do hoggies constrict their prey or does their venom work on small prey?
I suppose I could find out myself with research, but was just something that popped into my mind, and was hoping a hoggie person would give me a quick answer.

cheers

 

[Razaiel]

I know you can get stuff called lizard-maker to scent them with. Or maybe if anyone has any live toads you could rub a defrosted fuzzy on that may work.

Carl - I don't think they do - at least my hoggy doesn't constrict, just runs around with an open mouth and grabs it. My BP doesn't always constrict either - time before when I fed her she opened her mouth and took it from the tongs and didn't bother to constrict just started swallowing.

 

[PendleHog]

Hognoses do not constrict - in fact I have seen easterns eat their prey live, they dont always bother killing it!

6 months is a reasonably long time considering how small hogs are, particularly males. They are natural amphib feeders and most will feed on fish scented pinks (or larger).

Can you please run down your setup conditions for me? 6 months is a long time for any hog to voluntarily starve itself in correct conditions.

I have found braining to be effective on most hogs, even the good feeders occasionally need coaxing in this way. For trickier feeders scenting with roach fish (available at fishing tackle stores) works well. No need to defrost the fish, just rub a warm, wet pink against the frozen fish. This way it will keep for ages!

Leave him in a box somewhere warm and quiet with it overnight and fingers crossed it should be gone come morning.