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Western Hognose HELP, first snake

A

AnonFriendly

New member
I know this is a forum about corn snakes, but you guys just seem like one of the most active sites on snakes. And I'm sure alot of you guys don't just keep cornsnakes :)
But i got a hognose snake yesterday at a reptile expo, this is my first snake. I know you arent supposed to keep younger snakes in larger tanks but the 20 gallon is the only one i could get the temperature gradient right with. high 70's - low 80's cool side, high 80's-low 90's warm side basking area. about 2" substrate with a few hides and all.
He's young. probably only about 7-10" long. He came in a little deli cup and when i put him in the terrarium he seemed quite happy. was roaming around for a bit. didnt hiss at me or get defensive. then a couple hours later he burrowed himself down into the subtrate and i havent seen him since yesterday around 4pm (now is like 3pm next day). I know these guys are burrowers, but im just really nervous being this is my first snake. i dont wanna bother him but htf do i know if he's alright.

i know im probably being way too impatient and should just let him get used to the terrarium, but i'm like super worried. :(

i'll upload a pic in alittle bit of when he was still in the deli cup. i just have to resize it.
 
This sounds normal for a baby snake. Give him about a week to adjust to his new habitat. Snakes tend to hide whenever possible and many are nocturnal in their habits. My snakes tend to sleep all day and explore at night when I can't hear them, except when an occasional sneeze happens.

You posted this in the right section.
 
okay thank you. I wasn't totally sure where to post it and chit-chat sounding like the best. :p
yeah. i just hope he's drinking some of the water/ not staying too much on one side. With 2" of substrate its next to impossible to know if he's moving around.
 
What kind of substrate are you using? If you use shredded aspen you can look for the little tunnels it leaves behind. But obboi34 is right, I don't know much about hognose, but try sneaking up on the tank quietly later in the evening and see if you can catch him out looking around. My snakes sleep all day and cruise around between about 6pm and midnight. If he isn't coming out at all ever, it might also mean he's getting ready to shed. Just give him a couple more days and then quietly poke around to see if any of the substrate twitches. LOL
Don't worry, we've all been through that first snake panic.
 
Good to know it's not just me lol yeah I use Aspen shavings the first couple hours he buried himself he would burrow on the sides of the tank
So I could at least tell where he's at. But now he's in the center somewhere and can't see any trails oh well. Hopefully after this first week of panicking he'll be fine
 
just a quick update. I came home from work about half an hour ago, and went to change his water. he was buried under it. (i know you shouldnt handle them for the first week) but i had to move him to rinse/refill the water dish. and now he seems to be using his hides and basking under the light :)
 
They are also diurnal and will also do well with a light on during the day with a photoperiod of 8-12 hours.

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Sorry can't edit.. They need a humid hide. They are used to burrowing underground and digging for toads and the ground is more moist than the surface.

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Keep 'em hot and feed 'em a lot, is the standard advice for hoggies. I keep them hot and dry, compared to corns, and feed half sized (for a corn of the same weight) meals 2X weekly. I don't use humid hides, for a number of reasons. The biggest thing to know is that there is better than 50% chance it will stubbornly go off feed at some time of the year. And that animal will typically do this every year around the same time. And nothing, not even live toads will make them decide to eat until their fasting time is over. Some will go so long that they lose weight, but if they were previously a good feeder, they will usually return to that if you don't try to force feed them. Hog mouths will tear and bleed very easily, then they won't eat until that has healed. Never force feed a hog would be my standard advice for one that has eaten on its own but now refuses. The feeding issue is the biggest frustration of keeping this species. Nice to have another rodent eater to eat their refusals during this period. I keep an alligator snapper for cleanup.
 
alright thanks for the suggestions. i did have the heat lamp on a timer so it would get like 10 hours of light per day then when the temp drops the uth would kick on and keep it mid 80's for night time. But then i started having issues with the thermostat and rheostat so right now im using one of the "night lights" that provide heat but little light. and am just using my regular room lights until i can get my hands on a good dimmer-stat or whatever they are called. @ashleynicole: i was debating whether or not i should keep a humid hide, but for right now i have a semi-large (about the size of one of the hides) water dish. @Chip: yeah i was reading some post about some guys hognose wouldnt eat and he tried force feeding it. i guess the rear fangs got messed up and it was bleeding. Hope its doing alright. :( havent feed him yet so i guess we'll see how much of a picky eater he is. he's starting to finally use some of the hides, rather than just burrow the whole time. so i'm feeling a little less nervous. so now its just the feeding part thats got me stressed out, but i guess i got a while before i really have to stress. i think i might wait till saturday to try to feed him, since i got him this sat. that just passed, give him a week to get used to the place.
 
@chip: thanks for the info on the feeding schedule. is there any reason you feed yours twice a week with smaller meals rather than once a week with appropriate sized ones? sorry if i'm just ignorant, i've heard of people doing this before, i just didnt really understand why. easier on the snake?
 
My mexican hognose refused feed for the first 3 months I had it so i second that. How i got it to eat was removing the water dish and humid hide and offering a fresh soaking wet pinky everyday till it finally got thirsty enough to eat. After a few months we were set on a good schedule. I've read that hogs should be fed on a 5-7 day schedule which is what I always did.

And coming from a breeder on another forum even though hugs live in arid climates they still benefit from a humid hide because in their natural environment they can borrow down into more humid areas underground searching for toads. Not a soaking wet humid hide but slightly damp will do. Mine used his almost every day.

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Had our hognose for 3 years before we swapped him at a repticon a few months ago for a red footed tortoise. Turns out im allergic to whatever he secretes as I would break out in hives every time I handled him.

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thats too bad you had to get rid of him :( im just afraid that its gonna be too humid for him, my room is pretty consistent on being 40-60 % humidity.
 
AnonFriendly said:
@chip: thanks for the info on the feeding schedule. is there any reason you feed yours twice a week with smaller meals rather than once a week with appropriate sized ones? sorry if i'm just ignorant, i've heard of people doing this before, i just didnt really understand why. easier on the snake?
Click to expand...

What is appropriately sized for a corn just isn't for a hog of the same mass. They aren't naturally rodent eaters, and tend to put on fat. More frequent, smaller meals seems to keep them "running lean." And I've heard it theorized that it will lessen the frequency/chance of going off food, though I don't know how one would go about proving that.

As for humid hides, there is probably no harm in them, they just aren't necessary for westerns. I don't doubt they would stay in a humid hide, they will stay in a dry one too. If they aren't hunting, they are burrowing or tucked in somewhere. I use Freedom Breeder racks (the worst at holding in humidity, because they are open top) with the heat tape set at 105, and the only humidity is their water bowls. I can't recall a stuck shed on a hognose, they appear to be adapted to these conditions. The biggest obstacle for me would be keeping a dozen hides humid in a rack that loses humidity so quickly. I already have to check water bowls daily because of evaporation. Interestingly, they seem to poop in their water bowls much less frequently than corns.
 
awesome. thanks for the info. i might try that out instead of once a week. only downside would be i wouldnt get to handle him as often :( oh well. whatevers better for the snake. i cant wait to feed him :)
 
With a smaller meal, digestion doesn't take nearly as long, so the total "downtime" should be about the same. :)
 
awesome. cause with it already being not able to handle them like a day after you feed them. id hate to add another day to the week. i'll just have to time it around work so i can handle him the next day. lol
 
Well my humid hides are closed tupperwear containers with a tiny hole cut in he side. So holds humidity just fine. And i had multiple hides on the warm and cool side so the hog chose when he wanted to go where.

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