How to get Picky Hognose Snakes to Eat!

Can't get your hognose snake to eat? Don't worry, they're known for that! It just takes some patience, environment tweaking, and sometimes creativity, to convince them to take a meal. Watch this to troubleshoot what may be causing your hognose snake to refuse food, and hopefully you'll get your snake back on track again with a full belly!

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[gargaflan]

He protecc,
He atacc,
But most of all,
He picky about his snacc.

[nunyabiz]

I love how the toad was moving side to side while getting the pinky massage. Haha it was too cute. He was like "oohhhh, yes, right there....ohhhh yeah that side too!"

[x.alexxx]

I swear she knew I had just got a baby hognose and it won’t eat x

[brookeelise]

Do I have a hognose snake? No
Do I have a picky snake? Also no
Am I going to watch this video anyway? Of course

[lvealot]

Me: *doesnt even own a snake and has no interest in getting one*
Me when you upload: 👁👁

[THEmightyQUINN]

Round and round the deli cup goes the hog nose chasing the pinky
When he bumps it with his nose, pop goes the pinky

[blobbertmcblob]

Why did 9 people dislike this?


DO YOU HATE EDUCATION!?

[jennymiller]

I REALLY want a video with just Emily's funny quotes on videos of the snakes. They never fail to make me smile

[aimiee]

This video has come at a perfect time - my hognose has
decided not to eat recently even though hes been fine all his life!


I think its his environment - we realised our thermostat broke not too long ago and had it replaced but since then hes not eaten even though the temp is back to normal. I dont handle too much - hes got a humidity box and a hide. hmmm!

[Ashes]

Just the editing of the "what r u looking at?" and "pancake mode activated" had me laughing so hard 😂😂😂😂

[CreditR]

That's a beautiful fat baby you're holding. :)

Getting our first hognose has been an experience this year. He's a nearly three-year-old male we got from a breeding facility that no longer wanted to breed his line.The dummy ended up eating and spitting up his bedding chips (do NOT use Sani-Chips for these guys, they are too small and our derpagus ingested a lot), but thankfully he passed them and wasn't impacted. We put him on much bigger aspen chips to fix that(fibers are good too).

5:35 - Heat is VERY important. We keep our hoggy's tank very warm (around 85-87 degrees, never more than 90 on the substrate surface). Once we got the heat up, 2 months after the substrate incident, he ate. His tank is also in one of the least-used rooms in our house, so it's quiet and comfy.

Some hoggies are very fussy. Ours won't eat if you take him out of the tank. He has to be up and moving around of his own volition, and we need to boop his nose with the pinkie before he takes it (like 8:44). Pay careful attention to your hoggy's behavior, limit touch around feeding time, and keep them warm. (Also, talk to your hoggy when they're around to get them used to the friendly noise, and try not to hover over them. The shadow you cast makes them think you're a hawk and it frightens them.)


Reptilinks has toad sausages and toad-scenting liquid sprays, if you're looking for those. Those links didn't work for me but others have had a lot of success.

[bi_cycle]

My friend's little hognose will only eat his mice if you hide them with tongs and make them peak out. He just likes hunting.

He's called Cluedo.

[jennifermorgan]

Emily I would love to see you do a video about how you travel with your animals. I’ve always been curious about how you manage to take so many animals to programs while still keeping the health of the animals in mind!

[toastboy]

I find it funny that Hognose snakes are picky eaters. Since they have hog in their name.

[belizeguy]

First Hognose I ever had was one of the best snakes I ever kept. Ate whenever I offered food and never was picky. He was a favorite in my Education Programs, because he would still play dead almost on command, and then pop back up and resume normal activity. A few years later, I got another one that was so pretty, and he never adjusted to people. They sure can be extremes! Neat video. Thanks

[michaelmangan]

Funny. I just got a baby to start eating after 3 MONTHS! Scary! Lol he ate twice for me at first, then 3 months later. I ended up uping his hot spot to 94. He’s much happier now. I tried EVERYTHING! From scenting with tuna( worked once) catching roads and using them for scenting (never worked) adjusting temps and almost changing enclosure( he’s in a small tub with aspen) but he’s ok now(ate 4 times since without scenting). Glad you guys made this video though! Very informative especially because when I was having trouble I couldn’t find much info online.

[brittanyherlen]

My ball python is even kinda picky on colour of his rat, hes almost always had white rats, but my local pet store only had brown and black, and he will eat it eventually hes just gets kinda confused 😅🤦🏻‍♀️

[kryten]

I know it's been 3 years since this video was posted, but I wanted to post up that it was very helpful. I have a male hog nose that's about 1.5 years old and had gone off food for months. once he got too big for pinkies. I tried everything, switching frozen food types, even going back to pinkies. Tried scenting with all the usual recommendations even with frog juice from that expensive web store with no success. He refused to eat. Vet said he was fine so was at the point of selling him to a local vendor when I came across this video and with nothing left to try I went and picked up some fresh chicken hearts and put him in a round tupperware with it. Within 2 minutes he was gobbling it down! I now have a cheap plentiful supply of food that he'll actually eat! Thank you!

[EveryHonestEffort]

I really appreciate this info. Waiting to get a hognose but been collecting all information possible so I don't miss any factors and panic. Thank you for making!

[jesusbeloved]

Sydney refused to eat for more than a month. He weighed 10g, but went down to 9g. We went to our vet who force fed him. It was ugly because he really didn’t want to eat. I used all the tips and tricks you mentioned (except chicken hearts, didn’t know that one!), and no eating until the vet.
The vet suggested using live pinkies after everyone else in the room went to bed and the lights were out. It worked! I used 2 live, then changed to frozen/thawed. He ate it right down, and we never looked back! That was in early September. He so good on eating, he just ate in blue! Thanks for this video on behalf of all of us anxious snake mom’s out here!