Hogs not eating

Just recently acquired a pair of Western Hogs. The female is about 110g and the male is about 35g. I have had them about three weeks now. They have not yet eaten. I have a couple of BP's and a Cali king and one of my BP's gets finicky sometimes so I am not flipping out, but I do want to make sure that I am trying everything possible. Prior to me getting them (got them from a friend), the male was feeding on f/t pinkies and the female on f/t hoppers. The male was known to be picky at times and my friend usually left the pinkie in with him on a paper towel to get him to eat. I have done that with both since I got them with no success. The temps are good (around 90 on the hot side, 80 on the cool side). I put them on aspen as all my others snakes are on and they seem to be adjusted well since the move, other than the lack of eating. I have attempted feeding once a week (total of three times) since I got them. Didn't want to stress them with more attempts.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! they are beautiful snakes and I will share pics soon.

Thanks in advance!

Here is a pic of the female right before I got her.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...hog_female.jpg

Mine is a pain and only eats live but wasn't even taking that until I raised my temps a bit.

Most surface temps are 80-86 with a log at 90-92. I also added a small uth that stays around 92. Mine usually stays on the cool side but after adding the uth and lowering the heat lamp raising the temp she started eating. Now if she would just take f/t.


I would check with the previous owner and see how the feeders were being heated and do it the same way.

Thanks a lot! I just spent the last hour hooking up and regulating a new thermostat for them after I read your reply. I also added a spare heat lamp that I had and put it on timer as well.

Gonna let them level out and get accustomed and try another feeding in a couple of days.

Thanks again for the info! I'll let you know how it goes.

Hoggies are strange little things, although I will admit that is why I am so smitten with them. I only have one hog and I received him as an adult. I don't recall if he was eating f/t before I got him, however with me he has never eaten live. Pumpkin wants dinner and a show. He is relatively calm any other time, however during feeding he hisses, closed mouth strikes, hoods up, the whole nine yards. I have been holding the rat pup from behind the neck and following him around the tub keeping the pup in his face. Not touching him but directly in front of him. Usually after a bit of a show he just opens up and starts swallowing. Sometimes he will refuse to eat and I will just feed it to someone else. Usually he will eat though just takes a lot of patience.

Good luck!

You could try scenting with tuna juice, I hear it works wonders (although I have yet to try that myself). Also, come to accept that sometimes they will not eat! It seems that our babies take turns each week going off feed lol. What works for us is placing the hog in a barren tub (we use a 6qt plastic shoebox) within the enclosure over their heat pad, make sure they're nice and toasty. Usually by morning, the mouse is gone and all that's left is a fat happy hog :).

I had the same issue.. I scented with tuna and it worked for me.. I made sure I put the wet pinky up to its mouth. They immediatly started eating it. They are now eating unscented f/t fuzzies for me.

Mine are a bit bigger but my 150g male fasted for 8 months after I got him last August. It was nerve wracking but he's eating like a champ after brumation and breeding. Seems like these guys are funny and require a lot of patience :)

Thanks to everyone for all of the comments and advice! These guys are definitely different than all of my others but I have really come to like them a lot in just a short time! Thanks again and I will keep you posted as to how they are doing.