# Colubrids > General Colubrids >  western hognose not eating

## johnnycash

my western hognose that i purchased a couple months ago has stopped eating... it has refused pinkies for the last 3 weeks... ive tried once a week

it used to eat fine, i fed it about 3-4x without any trouble eating. now its like it gets upset when i try to give him a pinky... it just hisses and puffs at it, but doesnt seem interested...

when should i start worrying? its very small (8-10 inches) so i dont want it to miss too many feedings...

any ideas on what i could do?

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## Hardwikk

Leave the mouse in his enclosure and leave the room for 30 minutes. That trick always worked for me.

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## waltah!

Put him in a small tupperware type container (preferably round) with air holes cut. Put the lid on and cover with a towel or shirt. Leave him alone for an hour or so. That worked for me with a baby corn that would not eat her pinkys. I've been lucky so far with my hoggie as he has yet to miss a meal. Good luck!

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## Colin Vestrand

even at that size it will go a long time and be fine without food... i know from experience   :Smile: 

just be patient, its normal.  i think thats the reason the hog isnt more popular than it it.

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## NateDogg13

You can also try getting some type of frog or toad and keep the mouse in the same container for a few mins or rub them together to scent the mouse and then put him in a small container and that should do the trick. Ive had times were my hognose wouldnt eat til I scented it but never had a refusal when scented.

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## bender29

> You can also try getting some type of frog or toad and keep the mouse in the same container for a few mins or rub them together to scent the mouse and then put him in a small container and that should do the trick. Ive had times were my hognose wouldnt eat til I scented it but never had a refusal when scented.


I also have a hog that has been refusing recently. What type of toad should I purchase in order to scent the mouse? Or will the canned-tuna method I've read in another thread work just as well?

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## Hardwikk

> even at that size it will go a long time and be fine without food... i know from experience  
> 
> just be patient, its normal.  i think thats the reason the hog isnt more popular than it is.


What do you mean by normal? I've never experienced that! Sorry, I just don't want people to be reluctant when getting a Hognose.

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## MRC

I currently keepseveral hognose, and have bred them in the past. I now Westerns/Mexican, Eastern and Southern and for some reason they all seem to go of feed for a time for no apparent reason. I have noticed this to be more so with males. 

I have all my more finicky feeder accepting salmon scented, tuna and toad scented pinks. They will grab them with gusto. I bought a can of canned salmon from the store. I dumped the contents in a freezer bag and froze it. Now when i feed the more finicky hogs, I rust rub the thawed pink on the frozen salmon and it has worked for every baby that is a reluctant feeder. You can buy a frog from the petshop. I have used tree frogs in the past.

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## bender29

> I currently keepseveral hognose, and have bred them in the past. I now Westerns/Mexican, Eastern and Southern and for some reason they all seem to go of feed for a time for no apparent reason. I have noticed this to be more so with males. 
> 
> I have all my more finicky feeder accepting salmon scented, tuna and toad scented pinks. They will grab them with gusto. I bought a can of canned salmon from the store. I dumped the contents in a freezer bag and froze it. Now when i feed the more finicky hogs, I rust rub the thawed pink on the frozen salmon and it has worked for every baby that is a reluctant feeder. You can buy a frog from the petshop. I have used tree frogs in the past.


I will definitely try the canned salmon method. Can it really be any type of toad/frog? I ask because I have a friend that has a Pacman that I could use to quickly scent (If it doesn't try to eat the pinky itself).

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## MRC

I don't know about a Pacman. I would stick with a North American species and would also opt to keep my fingers from being a Pacman snake. I would just buy a $5 toad from Petsmart and keep it alive or just freeze it. It's easier to scent with a frozen toad then you don't have to deal with the upkeep.

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## NateDogg13

> I also have a hog that has been refusing recently. What type of toad should I purchase in order to scent the mouse? Or will the canned-tuna method I've read in another thread work just as well?


Ive never tried using tuna but a good ole north american green tree frog is what I used and he took it every single time.

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## ReptiBarbie101

I've had my western hognose for close to 9 months. adopted him from a friend. Was told he'd been eating pinkies regularly when i got him, he took a pinky willingly once a few days after I got him, since then he hasn't eaten willingly. I have a friend who breeds corns, and he gave me the advice to try force feeding a rat tail. since then that's what I've been doing, and hes been growing slowly but surely. but still refuses to eat willingly. I've tried scenting with tuna, and anoles, but as he gets a little bigger, I don't want him to get used to being force fed. he's a western so usually they're much more willing to eat rodents, and have less problems with scenting, but I want to know what has without a doubt worked for people.  He's my baby, and I'll force feed him for the rest of his life if I have to, but I know it's not good for him, and he's still too small to eat toads yet. only about 8-10 inches long. 

Thanks everybody.

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