What's going on with my Hogger?

My Hognose snake is doing pretty well. He eats readily, taming down more, and is overall a very enjoyable snake. But there's one strange thing about him that I need to comment on: He hasn't shown any signs of shedding for 3 months! Can anyone find an explanation for this?

Based on your other post, I am not sure you are feeding him enough. Hoggies do not shed as much as other snakes though, so that might be the explanation.

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Originally Posted by FloridaHogs

Based on your other post, I am not sure you are feeding him enough. Hoggies do not shed as much as other snakes though, so that might be the explanation.

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I'm probably feeding him enough as he isn't thin for his size! Is 10 months old considered "almost a yearling"?

Sounds like yours is about the same age as mine and they have been pounding fuzzies for about a month. If your little guy can eat two pinks at a feeding, you may want to start offering him two a week, vs the one big meal every three weeks. Just a suggestion mind you from my experiences breeding and raising these guys. Most people are really into to BP's here, but hoggies are my passion. I currently have 4 species of hoggies, and have my eyes on a 4th and 5th species. :) I did things backwards and started with one of the more difficult species first, the Easterns. Westerns are SOOO easy compared to those. At any rate, I would not worry to much about the shed issue. As I said before, hoggies do not shed as much as other colubrids, just another interesting quirk to them.

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Originally Posted by FloridaHogs

Sounds like yours is about the same age as mine and they have been pounding fuzzies for about a month. If your little guy can eat two pinks at a feeding, you may want to start offering him two a week, vs the one big meal every three weeks. Just a suggestion mind you from my experiences breeding and raising these guys. Most people are really into to BP's here, but hoggies are my passion. I currently have 4 species of hoggies, and have my eyes on a 4th and 5th species. :) I did things backwards and started with one of the more difficult species first, the Easterns. Westerns are SOOO easy compared to those. At any rate, I would not worry to much about the shed issue. As I said before, hoggies do not shed as much as other colubrids, just another interesting quirk to them.

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Remember that my hogger is a male, which grow a lot smaller than the females. Do you think I should feed him 2 XSPs a week or one nursed pinky every week?

P.S. What exactly is a speckled hognose? I saw some at the expo and I thought they were pretty nice-looking snakes.

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Originally Posted by Onua Nuva

My Hognose snake is doing pretty well. He eats readily, taming down more, and is overall a very enjoyable snake. But there's one strange thing about him that I need to comment on: He hasn't shown any signs of shedding for 3 months! Can anyone find an explanation for this?

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My kennerlyi has shed exactly 4 times in 30 months.

My female western has shed 3 times in 24 months.

Hognoses just have a lower frequency of shedding - it's nothing to be worried about.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

My kennerlyi has shed exactly 4 times in 30 months.

My female western has shed 3 times in 24 months.

Hognoses just have a lower frequency of shedding - it's nothing to be worried about.

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So I guess my Hognose is starting the long-term shedding stage... My WHS had shed monthly until now, so that's why it seemed so unusual and worth reporting.

Speckled is a madagascan species. There is the Giant, Blonde, and Speckled from Madagascar. I believe there are 9 species from South America, but only two have made it into the trade to the best of my knowledge.

As far as feeding, my two holdbacks that are close in age to yours are both male, and eating 1 fuzzy a week. I think 2 pinks a week would be appropriate until you are comfortable moving him up to a fuzzy.

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Originally Posted by FloridaHogs

Sounds like yours is about the same age as mine and they have been pounding fuzzies for about a month. If your little guy can eat two pinks at a feeding, you may want to start offering him two a week, vs the one big meal every three weeks. Just a suggestion mind you from my experiences breeding and raising these guys. Most people are really into to BP's here, but hoggies are my passion. I currently have 4 species of hoggies, and have my eyes on a 4th and 5th species. :) I did things backwards and started with one of the more difficult species first, the Easterns. Westerns are SOOO easy compared to those. At any rate, I would not worry to much about the shed issue. As I said before, hoggies do not shed as much as other colubrids, just another interesting quirk to them.

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Okay, this is a bit of a late response, but you didn't hear me correctly. I meant that I feed him 1 pinky a week, and after two feeding sessions I feed him 2 pinkies for that third time.

An interesting thing I've noticed: He's grown somehow even though he hasn't shed since before I made this thread.

mine is already eating fuzzies. Didnt we get ours about the same time?

I did hear you correctly. What I was suggesting is that you feed him 2 every feeding, instead of 2 every third feeding. I just didn't word it correctly. As I stated before, I hve two males that were born October of 07, and both are feeding on fuzzies, and have been for a time now. Here is one of them.

He is 30g, and this pic was taken last week as he chowed down on his fuzzy. He did not start feeding until he was almost two minths old, so he was a late bloomer as well.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../100_3443b.jpg

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Originally Posted by DSGB

mine is already eating fuzzies. Didnt we get ours about the same time?

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No. You got your Hogger sometime around May '08. I got mine in mid November '07.

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Originally Posted by FloridaHogs

I did hear you correctly. What I was suggesting is that you feed him 2 every feeding, instead of 2 every third feeding. I just didn't word it correctly. As I stated before, I hve two males that were born October of 07, and both are feeding on fuzzies, and have been for a time now. Here is one of them.

He is 30g, and this pic was taken last week as he chowed down on his fuzzy. He did not start feeding until he was almost two minths old, so he was a late bloomer as well.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../100_3443b.jpg

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Can you show me how big a fuzzy is?

Slightly freezer burnt pink on bottom, fuzzy on top.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...e/100_3484.jpg

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Originally Posted by FloridaHogs

Slightly freezer burnt pink on bottom, fuzzy on top.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...e/100_3484.jpg

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That might be a managable size for my WHS. One thing to note is that the pinkies I feed my Hogger are not that small like the one on the bottom of that photo. They're white-ish and fat looking like the one on the top of the photo.

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Originally Posted by Onua Nuva

That might be a managable size for my WHS. One thing to note is that the pinkies I feed my Hogger are not that small like the one on the bottom of that photo. They're white-ish and fat looking like the one on the top of the photo.

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Then its not a pinky ;) It's a fuzzy.

Not necessarily. My pinks are the extra small pinks. You can get xsmall, small, and lg pinks. Then it goes to fuzzy. Large pinks and some reg pinks are whitish, but still lacking any fuzz. The size differences in the different pinks are miniscule, but when you are talking about feeding 4g snakes, those differences are a big deal.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Then its not a pinky ;) It's a fuzzy.

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But there is no fuzz! It's just a really fat white baby mouse! The package that has the mice that I feed to Charon is labled "50 Pinkies". Either it's mis-marked, or they're just really fat pinkies.

Sounds like you have the normal or large pinks. Fuzzies are....well fuzzy. :)


Hey Ryan, what does the member #6667 refer to in your sig?

Hi,

It's his site membership number. :D

Yours is 2129. :gj:


dr del

Thanks Derek! I have been trying to figure out what that was. :)

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Originally Posted by FloridaHogs

Sounds like you have the normal or large pinks. Fuzzies are....well fuzzy. :)


Hey Ryan, what does the member #6667 refer to in your sig?

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Good question. I was curious to know what my number member I was, so I asked a staff member (Rabernet I think) and I was told my number. 6667 is catchy, isn't it?

As far as the feeding goes, you're doing fine. I feed mine two medium pinkies every week and my female mexican will eat anything, my male western may turn it down and eat once every two weeks. Either way, my westerns have shed three times each since february. It's kind of frequent but i don't restrict their diet much. My male will turn down food constantly, but he also doesn't shed as much as my female. (to clarify, i have three mexican and three western. 2 of my western are sub adult and one is only a few months old. 1 of my mexican is an adult long term captive, 1 is an adult, and one of their babies the same age as my young western)
It's normal, no worries. Although, i do know that the younger they are the more often they shed, and if they're gravid they shed more as well.

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Originally Posted by whytepizza

As far as the feeding goes, you're doing fine. I feed mine two medium pinkies every week and my female mexican will eat anything, my male western may turn it down and eat once every two weeks. Either way, my westerns have shed three times each since february. It's kind of frequent but i don't restrict their diet much. My male will turn down food constantly, but he also doesn't shed as much as my female. (to clarify, i have three mexican and three western. 2 of my western are sub adult and one is only a few months old. 1 of my mexican is an adult long term captive, 1 is an adult, and one of their babies the same age as my young western)
It's normal, no worries. Although, i do know that the younger they are the more often they shed, and if they're gravid they shed more as well.

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Thank you, I will have your information in mind. For anyone else who comes across this topic: The "problem" is pretty much solved, but you can still post how much you feed your WHS.

Good news: Charon looks like he's in the shedding stage!