New Hognose... Not burrowing?

Hello everybody!

I just got my first hognose last Saturday, a green phase male who the breeder told me is almost an adult (forgot to ask for his hatch date). Anyhow, he's already eaten for me (a fuzzy) earlier this week so not worried about that. I'm just wondering about his behavior.

I expected the trying to escape behavior, but he has not burrowed as far as I can tell. Every time I've come in and he's not nosing the top, he's just laying on top of the substrate.

The substrate is aspen wood chips and I have about 2" in his tank (5.5 gal). The probe next to the UTH (probe inside tank and next to the glass, UTH outside of tank) is reading around 86-92 F. I added a heat lamp controlled by a thermostat after a few days of him not burrowing and his body temperature reading at 74 F, now he's at low 80s (thermostat set to 82F). He's usually on the warm side and he doesn't seem to be using his hide either.

Is this normal for hognoses in a new environment? Is he waiting for food? Or do I just have a quirky hognose?

And here's a picture of him taken at reptile show when I bought him.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...f%2FAlbert.jpg

He certainly is adorable! My hoggie was the same way until I bumped her temps. Always lounging out in the hot side of the tank. I keep her hot side between 90 and 93 (Fahrenheit), and she's active, and thermoregulates as she pleases. I also have a UVA/UVB fluorescent style light set up for her to mimic a more natural habitat. They're all different though, my friend's hoggie, also female, seems to prefer temps in the high 80s. I'd just play with temps until she seems happy and active.

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A few things here

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I just got my first hognose last Saturday, a green phase male who the breeder told me is almost an adult (forgot to ask for his hatch date). Anyhow, he's already eaten for me (a fuzzy) earlier this week so not worried about that. I'm just wondering about his behavior.

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Given the size (judging by your hand) he should be eating something bigger than a fuzzy mouse (I have 20 grams hatchlings from this year eating fuzzies already), ideal prey is 1 to 1.5 time it's girth size every 5 days., once they are about a year you can decrease to one feeding a week. Avoid rats, rats are fatty and Hogs are prone to fatty liver diseases.

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but he has not burrowed as far as I can tell. Every time I've come in and he's not nosing the top, he's just laying on top of the substrate.

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While they should be provided with a nice layer of substrate to burrow not all do, adults tend to do it less and less as they mature, they still do it but not as much as adult so it's not abnormal.

So long your temps are not falling below 75 and reach around 90/92 on the warm side he will be fine.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

A few things here
Given the size (judging by your hand) he should be eating something bigger than a fuzzy mouse (I have 20 grams hatchlings from this year eating fuzzies already), ideal prey is 1 to 1.5 time it's girth size every 5 days., once they are about a year you can decrease to one feeding a week. Avoid rats, rats are fatty and Hogs are prone to fatty liver diseases.

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Good to know. I had just been going off of what his breeder had told me. He may end up on the fuzzies for a little bit longer until I can get a bunch of appropriate sized mice. The cheapest place near me goes from fuzzies to "mice" and I'm not certain what the full size range is for f/t there. With the smaller prey would it be better twice a week, or would providing two in an evening be better? Also weighed him tonight, he's 58 grams.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

While they should be provided with a nice layer of substrate to burrow not all do, adults tend to do it less and less as they mature, they still do it but not as much as adult so it's not abnormal.

So long your temps are not falling below 75 and reach around 90/92 on the warm side he will be fine.

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Thanks! I had it in my head that they liked to burrow similar to how a typical ball python likes to be in its hide so it made me a bit worried that something was wrong.

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Originally Posted by Enirei

Good to know. I had just been going off of what his breeder had told me. He may end up on the fuzzies for a little bit longer until I can get a bunch of appropriate sized mice. The cheapest place near me goes from fuzzies to "mice" and I'm not certain what the full size range is for f/t there. With the smaller prey would it be better twice a week, or would providing two in an evening be better? Also weighed him tonight, he's 58 grams.



Thanks! I had it in my head that they liked to burrow similar to how a typical ball python likes to be in its hide so it made me a bit worried that something was wrong.

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At 58 grams he can definitely take hoppers I would keep him on a every 5 days schedule for a little while longer (until he reaches 80 grams) than at that time weaned/small mice once a week will do just fine.

You may see him burrow every now and the but I can tell you that the only time my adults do is when I cool them down for breeding, during the rest of the year they just don't.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

At 58 grams he can definitely take hoppers I would keep him on a every 5 days schedule for a little while longer (until he reaches 80 grams) than at that time weaned/small mice once a week will do just fine.

You may see him burrow every now and the but I can tell you that the only time my adults do is when I cool them down for breeding, during the rest of the year they just don't.

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good information to know. i've only owned hoggies for a few months now. still figuring out all their little quirks.