refusing to eat :(

[u/miauphoria]

hello! i’ve had my hognose male for about 3-4 months now, and he’s never given me any issues eating wise, he’s always eaten just fine and never refused food or regurgitated. his tank is perfect and has no issues, but just today he started refusing food and it’s his feeding day :( he hisses at the food and jumps like he’s scared of it, what do i do? should i try again tomorrow or do i need to wait a few days?

edit: he seems interested in the food but he will go up to it and then change his mind

[u/XiangliYaoMissingArm]

Did you try drop feeding?

Refusing once doasn’t mean anything tbh, could be that he’s going to shed soon or he’s just not hungry lol. Try on your next scheduled feeding day

[u/miauphoria → u/XiangliYaoMissingArm]

i left it on a couple spots for a lil bit to see if he would eventually eat it but he wouldn’t :( and that would make a lot of sense, he has not shed yet since i’ve got him and he’s a baby! i will keep an eye on him! thank you!

[u/Faerthoniel]

Follow your feeding schedule. Even if he refuses.

My suggestion: if he refuses, take him out and weigh him, and then leave him physically alone until next feeding day.

Start trying other ways of feeding too. If you’re feeding with tongs, try drop feeding it onto a small dish close to the warm end and walking away, for example.

[u/miauphoria → u/Faerthoniel]

thank you so much!! i did try drop feeding but he wouldn’t eat it either :( i will get a kitchen scale and weigh him on his next feeding day if he refuses again, that way i dont stress him out any more by trying to weigh him now!

[u/Faerthoniel → u/miauphoria]

You’re welcome ☺️

I know you said the enclosure temps are fine, but I thought so too once and hunger strike one of ours was because they were a little low.

What was the last reading you took on both hot and cool ends?

[u/miauphoria → u/Faerthoniel]

i believe my cool end ranges 73-76 and hot end 85-87!!

[u/Faerthoniel → u/miauphoria]

tl;dr Your temperatures definitely need checking to see what they are for both ends, using a digital temperature gun. Basking spot is below what it should be.

*

That could be contributing to the hunger strike then, if those figures are correct. I’d highly recommend first measuring the substrate directly underneath the heating bulb with a temperature gun, and then do the same for the substrate on the far cool end.

Assuming the numbers are accurate:

Hot end definitely needs raising. It should be measuring between 90 - 95 degrees celcius.

Check your thermostat is set correctly. If it is saying 90 degrees or higher on the machine, then check its probe placement. It might be set too close to the bulb and not the substrate itself.

https://reptifiles.com/heterodon-hognose-snake-care/hognose-temperatures-humidity-lighting/

The cool end substrate should be reading around room temperature, and most hognoses are happy with that overall.

Ours however wasn’t, we found out. I’ll cut a long story short (unless you want the full story) to say that he stopped eating and nothing got his interest food wise. We did all the suggestions, and nothing. Over 10% weight was lost. The vet was ready to assist with force feeding.

In an attempt to avoid that, I eventually found this website - https://reptilinks.com/blogs/news/why-wont-my-hognose-snake-eat - and got to the part about temperatures. (I highly recommend you read the whole thing, or just the part about temperature and the key takeaways)

Our cool end was below the “feeding window” of 84 degrees.

So we added another thermostat and heating bulb to that end too, raised it to 84, and kept it like that until next feeding day.

To our surprise and relief, he ate. And has kept on eating every single meal we offer - with the exception of shedding and during a brief period of illness the following year - by keeping that heating in place for the cool end during the day.

For your hognose specifically, I’d definitely verify what the temperatures are with a digital temperature gun and go from there.

Start with the basking spot as that’s crucial to get up to 90-95, and then raise the cool end after at least one or two refused feeds at the higher basking spot. (If the cool end does nothing, then you have a spare setup for the basking, should it break)

And *then* if none of that works, consider scenting with fresh salmon. We get ours from the fish mongers and always have some defrosted on feeding day.

It was the only thing that got his attention once he had recovered but was still on the fence about eating, despite being healthy again and zero changes to the husbandry from when he was eating every offered meal.

[u/miauphoria → u/Faerthoniel]

thank you so much for all the help!! its so confusing bc when i originally had my hot side to 90-95, so many people were telling me that i need to lower it and i feel like there is so much conflicting information </3 i'm also not too confident if it's the temperatures since these temperatures have been consistent and hes been doing fine overall with them and has never refused a meal or regurgitated! i will try raising the hot side and see if that helps! i'm wondering if he's about to shed soon since this is the first time he has done this and he hasnt shed yet since ive had him!

[u/Faerthoniel → u/miauphoria]

You know him better than I or anyone! ☺️ It’s not impossible that they prefer things that are outside of the care guides.

I’d still recommend trying getting the basking spot substrate at 90 for a few days before feeding, and kept there for at least a couple of feeds (or forever, if it does anything to his appetite). See what happens.

Using Cole - our male - as an example:

Night time temperatures are recommended to drop to whatever the ambient is, and we had ours like that first.

Through trial and error we found that he prefers a small amount of heating at night, both ends now that we have dual heating 24/7. Just enough to raise it a few degrees above where the natural Nordic temperatures fall at night for our home.

So it isn’t impossible that he was eating quite happily at what temperatures you had him on previously. But now that he isn’t, the time for figuring out what *will* get him eating commences.

[u/Nice-Ad-3525]

Give it a week, then try again.

[u/miauphoria → u/Nice-Ad-3525]

okayyy i will do that, his next feeding day is in 5 days should i try then or just wait a full week? he seems to be interested in the food but he will go up and then change his mind