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Thread: Finicky Eater

  1. #1
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    Finicky Eater

    I adopted a 3 year old hognose. The person that i got him from said that he was a "Finicky" eater. Well they were not wrong. We got him back on 11/4. I have tried presenting a fuzzy mouse with tongs, he did not take it. I tried leaving the fuzzy mouse on a lid in the enclosure over night. I have tried placing him in a tub with the fuzzy, he did not take. I tried dripping a bit of tuna water onto the fuzzy and placing him and the fuzzy in a plastic deli cup, he did not take. He is in a 20 long, warm side is around 88-92 and the cool side is 78-82 degrees. Two hides and 2 inches of aspen substrate.

    I need help, are there any of you out there that have any tricks?
    ssmith73

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    Registered User cron14's Avatar
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    Re: Finicky Eater

    What’s his current weight and what was he eating prior to being in your possession? From my understanding, males will occasionally go off feed. If we was feeding unscented before, give him some time to settle in, put him in a smaller enclosure and try offering a week later. In my opinion, 17 days is not really that big of a deal, especially when you take into account that he is an older male, used to different surroundings. By offering scented mice, you may be taking a couple steps backwards (assuming he was on unscented before).

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  4. #3
    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Well

    1# It's a male they are finicky
    2# He is old enough to be sexually mature

    What is his weight? I will assume small for his age considering the prey type?

    If so downsize, a male can do fine in a 10 gallons, maybe even smaller depending on the weight.
    Last edited by Stewart_Reptiles; 11-21-2018 at 04:48 PM.
    Deborah Stewart


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    Re: Finicky Eater

    He was eating eating fuzzies before I got him. I only tried the scenting today for the first time. He is long (harder to get his length as he likes to move around a lot), I just weighed him, he is at 145 grams. The old owner said she would flip over his warm hide and place the fuzzy in there and leave it. An hour later she would come back and the fuzzy would be gone. He was in a rack before.
    ssmith73

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    Are you housing him the way he was before? (if he's in a tank now, you can cover the sides so he has privacy)

    How long after you got him did you offer food? (best to wait at least a week or two before offering food at all, many snakes need time to settle in)

    How long did you wait between offerings. (offering day after day just stresses a snake out...if you offer & he refuses, wait a week)

    And do EXACTLY what the previous owner did to feed him...quit making changes, offer the same food the same way. This is the kid that WON'T eat carrots!

    And yes, it could also be the gender & time of year for a fast. He didn't get to be 3 years old by never eating, so take heart & have patience!
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 11-21-2018 at 06:08 PM.

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    Telling it like it is! Stewart_Reptiles's Avatar
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    Fuzzies (5 to 7 grams and under 10 days old) are too small for a 145 grams hognose at that size he can eat hoppers (7 to 13 grams 15 to 20 days old), a prey too small might not be worth the work for him.

    I would still downsize to 10 gallons for a male which is standard (20 are generally used for females.) , while a 20 gallons can work when you have feeding issues it can be one of the contributing problem, especially going from tub to glass tank.

    Most importantly wait it out, it's a big male he can go months without food and as I mentioned he is sexually mature so usually food is not high on his priority list.

    This time of the year their instincts tell them it is time to brumate and than breed so I would say you can be looking at next February or even spring before he resume feeding.
    Last edited by Stewart_Reptiles; 11-21-2018 at 06:08 PM.
    Deborah Stewart


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    Re: Finicky Eater

    i will look into downsizing. I think I will wait a few more weeks and try a hopper the exact same way that the previous owner did. He is my first hognose, I do have a couple of ball pythons one of which has refused only twice so I should be accustom to this. He is really awesome and I'm just trying to figure this him out.

    Thank you for the advice!
    ssmith73

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    Re: Finicky Eater

    Quote Originally Posted by ssmith73 View Post
    i will look into downsizing. I think I will wait a few more weeks and try a hopper the exact same way that the previous owner did. He is my first hognose, I do have a couple of ball pythons one of which has refused only twice so I should be accustom to this. He is really awesome and I'm just trying to figure this him out.

    Thank you for the advice!
    You'll get there...many of us can relate to your frustration but with any luck (& probably some minor changes) he'll eat & be fine.

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    Re: Finicky Eater

    Okay, he still has not eaten. Funny thing is that my male ball python was in shed and also refused to eat (he prefers mice). So I took the adult mouse and presented it to Princeton (the hognose). He actually seemed very interested and even nudged it a few times so I quickly ran and thawed out a hopper and tried again and no luck. LOL!

    Anyways, I'm thinking of down sizing his enclosure and instead of buying another aquarium, I was thinking of going with a tub/tote. Any suggestions on the size of tub I should get. I was trying to find something with a similar foot print as a 10 gal.

    What do you think about a a 15 Qt. 17"L x 11"W x 6.5"H?

    Or a 26 Qt. 19.70"L x 15.75"W x 7.09"H This one seems a bit big.

    When using a tote: If I were to go with the first option what size UTH do I use? How do I create an ambient air temp? Where do I drill the wholes? Do I drill holes on the lower part of the side walls, on top or both? Do cutout a portion of the lid and hot glue some screen on it and run a ceramic heat emitter or a light.

    Sorry for the questions, just want to get it right.

    I do have a 3 tub baby BP rack. The tubs are 18"L x 6.5W x 6.5"H? Are these to small?

    I really want the healthiest animals!
    ssmith73

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    I have noticed that offering a variety of foods will get them to eat again. Offer pieces of boiled egg, raw fish, f/t mice dipped in egg yolk, f/t mice dipped in tuna juice, raw frog leg, etc. And instead of offering it to him directly, lift the hide and place it in front of the snake itself (if its a food thats wet, put it on something solid in the cage).
    Last edited by spazhime; 12-11-2018 at 02:19 AM.
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