New Malagasy Giant hoggie!

ok folks, im new here and as you may be able to tell by my username, I am a hognose lover. the first snake I had as a child before my parents gave me my first ball python (who is still alive and kicking) was a black eastern hognose I kept for a week. I have been looking for a Madagascar giant hognose for several years and managed to find one at a reptile show last weekend, and haggled out a price I was good with. He/ (she)? is about three feet long and supposedly about two-three years old. There are a couple missing scales on the sides but they should be healed by the next shed. The snake had a slight wheeze when I first got it but after letting it get a good drink of water/soak and bask for awhile that is gone. What would be the best method to entice a feeding response with a prekilled rat injected with Panacur (de-worming medicine, as it had a very loose stool immediately after placed in the cage) and what is the best temp to keep the basking zone of the cage? there was an excellent guide on Hognose.com but it seems to be taken down. Also, odd question, but does this forum have an introductions board? I looked and didnt see one.

Hello, and :welcome: to BP.net. I am guessing that you got it from the LLL table at the Raleigh show. I was suprised when I saw it, because I didn't know that Madagascar had any hognoses. I don't have any hoggies, but I do have two boas from Madagascar, and I would assume that the temp and humidity requirements would be similar, since they all come from the same place.
I use 77-80F for the Ambient/Cool side temp, 87-90 for Warm/Basking side temp, and humidity is between 50-60%.
I did manage to find this caresheet for you:

http://www.specialtyserpents.com/car...e%20Snakes.pdf

Also, there is an "Introduce Yourself" section in the Off Topic Cafe sub-forum. Here is the link:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/forum...oduce-Yourself!

^yep. LLL table, I was surprised to see it and I normally don't like doing business with them but I couldn't pass this up. I'll look into adjusting my setup to the recomenations.

ok, so, ife played around with the heat, an even 78 degrees, I saw on one blog they like a tank without hotspots. He;s still acting pretty sluggish for what Ive read this species usually acts like, but im hoping he'll become more active once I can feed and treat for parasites, which brings me to my next question: if I scented a rat with toad urine to hopefully entice a feeding response, could I just inject the rat with a load of Panacur rather than stressing the snake out with sticking a tube in his throat? also, if all else fails, would ther ebe any danger (aside from parasites or similar) that anyone could see from feeding him normal garden toads and wean him over to rats? Sorry if im asking for alot, I realize this is a pretty rare species and theres not alot of info on them right now.

I demand pictures!

We all want to see the :snake:.

Hi this is my giant hog :D
Have a look at these links
http://fieldherpforum.com/forum/view...hp?f=35&t=7601
http://theguardianreptiles.com/blog/

http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/...ther/002-4.jpg

oK, Heres some pics! (I managed to get a couple before he/she decided picture time was over.



http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...GEDC0011-1.jpg



http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...GEDC0012-1.jpg


http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...1/GEDC0019.jpg


Hes about 3.5' long and kinda on the thin side, he's getting more active so I hope once he's over what i like to call "Show sickness" and after getting some dewormer in him, he'll start bulking up and really be a beauty!