Western Hognose too curious to eat?

I bought a female western hognose in November from a reptile expo. She's a good 10.5 inches and appears to be healthy in every way - eats, poops, explores her viv (she hasn't shed for me yet and I haven't seen her drink, but I'm assuming she does it).

She's being housed in a 10 gallon tank with hides, aspen bedding, water dish, and heat.

However, for the last two feedings, I put her in her deli cup with her hot thawed pinky and she just rubs her little shovel nose all over the container but doesn't eat the pinky. I know that she loves to burrow and she goes around the edges of her tank, pressing her nose into the corners and this is what she's doing in her deli cup too.

I'm not overly concerned (yet) because she still seems otherwise healthy and I know snakes can go a long time without eating. She doesn't appear to be starting a shed, so I don't think that's the reason. And she has eaten for me several times before, same brand of pinkies and everything.

What would you suggest I try? I know all of the usual tips and tricks for reluctant corn snakes - do you think I should try braining a pinky for her next week? I'm wondering if she needs more heat. I don't have a thermostat, but her heat source is not warm. (In contrast, my corn snake's heat source is just slightly warm to the touch.)

Here's a picture of her.

Definitely up her heat a little bit. Western Hogs often prefer to start on live as opposed to F/T.

Carinata said:

Definitely up her heat a little bit. Western Hogs often prefer to start on live as opposed to F/T.

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Okay I will give that a try. She was being fed frozen/thawed by the breeder/company I got her from and all of her meals from me have been frozen/thawed without a problem. When I got her, I also made sure to ask if she was eating unscented pinkies because I know some hatchling hognoses will only eat pinkies scented with toad or anole.

Oh, this is a picture of what she will do for hours in her deli cup:

Give her a more shallow deli cup. That's a 16oz, give her an 8oz. That way she is much more confined and closer to the pinkie.

Carinata said:

Give her a more shallow deli cup. That's a 16oz, give her an 8oz. That way she is much more confined and closer to the pinkie.

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I was kind of thinking that too. I know this is dumb question, but where can I get one?

have you tried holding her & giving her the pinky w/tongs? ours eats like that for us everytime

here's a pic I took of Grimm tonight--he's probably around the same age as yours,we got him Halloween weekend--

MotleyMedusa7 said:

have you tried holding her & giving her the pinky w/tongs? ours eats like that for us everytime

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No, I haven't tried that. When it became clear that she didn't want to eat tonight, I did kinda tease her a bit with the pinky in the tongs. She got all hissy, but not really mad enough to actually strike.

Yours is a cutie!

lol they are hilarious when they get hissy too cute to be scary--Grimm has his hissy days then the next day he scoots up the walls of his viv until we come hold him --does yours curl her tail when she's puffing up? it's so cute!

MotleyMedusa7 said:

lol they are hilarious when they get hissy too cute to be scary--Grimm has his hissy days then the next day he scoots up the walls of his viv until we come hold him --does yours curl her tail when she's puffing up? it's so cute!

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She's only gotten hissy with me twice - once being this time. The first time she did it was actually the last feeding and I left her in her container overnight, hoping she'd eat. I woke up in a panic at like 5 in the morning because I had sleepily convinced myself she'd escaped from her deli cup. She was fine, but when I went to pick her up to put her back in her tank, I completely startled her awake and she hissed very loudly and was in a striking position, although she never did actually strike.

Wow, long story short - I haven't noticed whether she curls her tail. I guess this calls for some more poking of the snake! :dgrin:

Lol mine is really hissy lately. He sits there and goes "TST!" Really loud and does a little flip. And when I open the tub he flattens his neck out and continues his hissy fit. He's adorable.

:awcrap: It's following natural instincts. My adults males stop eating in the beggining of September, females near the end of September. Imho: it's related to the natural light cycles more than temps. My hatchlings usually eat a couple meals then stop in anticipation of hibernating.
After emergence from bru they start eating like pigs again. This is also one of the few times that I can observe the fainting & musking behavior. I also love the flattening neck & closed mouth strike defense that they display done before the fainting strategy.

My male hasnt eaten in almost 2 months now. But he does that a lot, especially in the winter.

AliCat37 said:

Lol mine is really hissy lately. He sits there and goes "TST!" Really loud and does a little flip. And when I open the tub he flattens his neck out and continues his hissy fit. He's adorable.

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My guy did that when I moved him from a 5 gallon Kritter Keeper into a 15qt tub. He was wound up for days!

The last time he ate was Dec 5th, but before that it was Oct 14th. Grrr. I put him in the deli cup, then put the cup back in his tub so he'd stay warm. I left him overnight, and miracle, he ate it! If he doesn't eat this week, I'm gonna try that again.

P.S. Love my garters, they eat room temp pinky bits and thawed fish! Chopped up worm guts are not so fun though...

What if you try using an opaque container, like an ice cream container? (With holes).

or maybe just cover the deli with a cloth?

brown baggit

small paper bag.

I can definitely give those things a shot. With my first corn, she had to be covered with a dish towel in a quiet room to eat (at first; now she eats every time without a fuss). My hognose has eaten in front of me in broad daylight with background noise and motion without an issue, so I don't really think that's the problem, but I'm willing to try anything.

Well, just to let everyone know, I gave her some heat and while I waited a week for my mice to arrive in the mail, she got hungry enough and ate a large pinky. She still seemed a bit 'distracted', but it didn't taker her long to grab a hold of it.

(On a side note, one of my corns was so eager for her pinky that she rapidly snatched it out of my tongs before I could even set it down.)