reign Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) Sigh, dd7's pet snake will not eat. It has been with us 2 weeks. He is an albino western hognose hatchling. I thought the place we got him from said he was eating frozen pinkies but he has yet to eat here. They have not returned my message yet. He is active and handles well. She tried scenting the pinkie with canned tuna. I have "brained" the mouse. She tried putting him in a smaller container to eat. Dying pets don't make for an awesome Christmas! Any ideas? Edited December 9, 2015 by reign Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 What are temp and lighting conditions for his new home? Does he have warm water to soak in? I have had snakes go 3-4 weeks without eating but they were older. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Not an expert, but with a budding herpetologist in the family, I've spent a lot of time around snakes! 1) Hognose snakes in the wild are amphibian specialists. Their little rear fangs are designed to pierce and deflate toads, which inflate themselves for defense. Therefore, a lot of the things that attract snakes that eat Mammals don't work. If you know someone wirh pet frogs or toads, and can use the water for scenting, or rub the pinky on the frog's back, that is likely to be more effective. Mice simply aren't a regular food item for them in the wild. Hognose breeders often keep pet toads for this reason. Do NOT use a fire bellied toad. I don't know if just scenting would be enough to harm the snake, but one keeper we know kept both animals, and had the snake escape and try to make a meal of the toad-only to have the toad's toxins kill the snake! 2) Hognose snakes brumate in the wild, except for Southern Hognoses. It is entirely possible that he just plain won't eat in the winter at all, or will eat much less often. DD's mentor researches Eastern and Western Hognose, and they move all the snakes to their garage for the winter-the snakes sleep from November to about February/March, because the goal is to emulate what they do in the wild. So, going without food doesn't necessarily mean a dying snake-it can just mean a sleepy one. 3) having said that, check his temps. Hognose tend to like warmer temps than many other US native snakes-a common rule of thumb is "keep 'em hot and feed them a lot!" for In general, don't panic. Snakes, in general, are opportunistic feeders and can go a LONG time between meals with no ill effects. It is highly unlikely that you'll have a dead pet for Christmas. Having said that, since he is a hatchling and has never eaten for you, it's probably a good idea to contact an experienced person (herp vet, breeder or researcher who works with Hognose snakes, or so on) just to make sure that they think he's healthy. Local herp societies and herp groups are good places to get recommendations. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 (edited) PM dmetler on this board. I think this is her username and if memory serves me, her dd has several snakes and they seem very knowledgeable on the topic of herpetology. How funny: dmmetler beat me to it. All is well now. Edited December 9, 2015 by Liz CA 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 One more thing-how much is your DD handling him? Snakes do get stressed from handling, and it can take a couple of days of quiet before they eat-even for experienced, adult demonstration animals. We don't feed within 3 days of a demo event because it is hard on the snakes. For a younger, smaller animal, that's even more the case. Most breeders suggest waiting at least a week, if not 2, before trying to feed a new snake. Similarly, tryIng to feed too often can be stressful. You may want to try (especially if you can manage to frog/toad scent a pinkie) leaving him completely alone for a few days, and then present a scented pinkie and see if he goes for it. One he does eat, leave him alone until he poops. With a hatchling who is on a week or shorter feeding schedule, this really can mean not handling much at all-there may only be a day or two window between "just ate" and "needs to eat". 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reign Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 Thank you so much! I'm going to go out for a frog tomorrow. We've kept aquatic frogs before. Would those be okay? I don't see any pictures/video of people using that type for scenting but I already have an appropriate aquarium I can add them to. I had dd stop handling him last Friday thinking he may be stressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 I honestly don't know on aquatic frogs. There are no US native aquatic frog species, and hoggies don't tend to swim, so they probably wouldn't be prey in and of themselves, but they probably would smell more "froggy" than a pinkie does. The hard part I could see would be trying to scent a pinkie without keeping the frog out of water too long. In a fish tank with filtration, the water probably won't smell "froggy" enough to use for scenting. If it weren't December, I'd advise turning on an outdoor porch light, and waiting to see who shows up for the buffet, but unless you're in Florida or Southern Californja, that probably won't work. The other snake feeding tip, which, again, probably won't help now, is that in the wild, warm, stormy nights are ideal times for snakes to feed-hawks, owls, Eagles, and other large birds are a common predator of snakes, and they don't fly at night. So, feeding a stubborn snake when a storm is brewing will often get them to feed, but, again, most of the US won't have a warm, stormy night for several months! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okra Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 I'm no help....but I did want to pop in and tell you to post an update when pet snake decides to eat. We all want to know when everything is okay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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