Brumation...

My hoggie has stopped eating for a month now. I'm thinking he's brumating because he doesn't go out and about during the day anymore either. He just stays under the substrate all day and night long. Doesn't even bother with the hide, just goes under the substrate under the water bowl. I've been fishing him out every week to try to feed. Last Saturday, I saw him out and about in the morning, so I tried to feed him again. But, he didn't eat again. So... how do you know if he is done brumating? Does he just start eating? Or is there any other sign that he's back to normal? He hasn't lost weight, so I'm not very concerned YET.

The best person to ask about "selfbrumation" is Floridahogs.

Jeneaaaaaaa.....

Jennneeaaaaa.....

In my experience natural cues (especially warmer temps) seem to trigger a feeding response/end of brumation. I don't like my snakes to get in the habit of refusing meals, so when they seem to go off feeding, and I'm not intentionally brumating them, I offer food less often. For instance, if they are used to eating weekly, then don't eat, then I'll offer again in a week, if they refuse, then I won't offer again for 2 weeks, then 2 wks after that. If they're at a healthy weight and temps aren't high, then they will start eating when they're ready, and if they're ready 2 weeks before they are offered a meal, they'll catch up over the summer.

Also, I usually get a sense when a snake is hungry, but that's kind of hard to explain or advise and seems to require that I'm pretty relaxed about it.

Best of luck!
Adam

Grrr... my Hoggie is back to his hissy self! He's been out and about the past few days, I offered food, he refused, and now, since he's been out, my son is picking him up again and he is hissy and all that again!!! He was hissy when we first got him but less than a month later, has settled down and is all chill. Now, he's hissier than he was when we got him. I'm starting to wonder if there's something wrong with the little guy. No visible signs of anything amiss besides being off feed...

I wouldn't worry about it. Hognoses are known to go off feed like that. My first Hognose acted a lot like you are describing. Would be calm and feed well, then go off feed and start hissing a lot, then be back to normal after a couple of weeks.