Well i bought a Western Hognose 2 weeks ago. it is a hatchling and is about 6 inches. I only feed live mice. and it looks like all of the pinkie mice are too big. There is nothing smaller than a pinkie mouse. What should i feed him. I need help ASAP. I do not want him to die. He really is extremely small though. He just doesnt eat the pinkies i give to him. PLEASE HELP! The people said just to feed it small mice and I sorta can't. I dont know if pinkies are too big or he just doesn't want to eat.
I got my hog as a hatchling and she had no problem taking pinks. You shoud try to find one or 2 day ols pinks if you can. What are your cage temperatures? Hogs do well at 85 on the hot side and mid 70s on the cool side. Provide 2 tight hides and substrate deep enough to burrow in. You could try feeding at night or leaving food in its hide. Try braining the pink by puncturing its skull and smearing brain matter on it. Leaving it alone overnight in a paper bag (inside its cage) with a pink can work. He could still be getting used to his new home, so make sure you disturb him as little as possible and no handling till he has eaten a few meals. Hogs are natural frog and toad eaters, and some of them are reluctant to eat mice. If this is the case you need to sent the pink by washing it and rubbing it against a frog or toad. Go to a pet store and buy a toad and kill it. Put it in the freezer and pull it out when you want to feed. You can then slowly ween it off scented mice. Mine has eaten mice from day one, so I can't speak from experince, but I have read that the above methods work. Try doing a search on hognose care and try to contact the breeder who sold it to you for a recomendation.
ok. well i really dont want to kill anything my self. so i will try the one or 2 day old pinkie thing lol. Any other advice?
If you don't want to kill a toad, then keep a couple of firebelly toads as pets and rub the pink on the live toad. Are you using live or frozen/thawed. Maybee a live one will get him going.
I only feed live. well i think the problem was that the mice are too big. i am going to get really small one or try breeding mice. I am going to try getting smaller mice first. than if that doesnt work i am going to do the frog and toad thing. Thanks for the info. I just dont want him to die. How long can hatchlings go without eating?
How old is he? Hatchlings don't take a meal untill after their first shed which usually happens within a week or 2 after hatching. he should be fine for a few weeks before you should get worried.
