By any chance does someone have a feeding chart that shows at what weight what and I supposed to feed a western Hognose to make sure I’m doing it right and also what weights are good for a female western Hognose to breed
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I’ve done a little bit of research on them and most of what I’ve read says that females should be 250g and 2 years old before being bred. I’m not sure about their feeding schedule but someone more experienced will likely reply with some information.
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I reference this one. The only change I make is around the 18g mark I up to two pinks until they go on peach fuzzies. As for weight, 250-300g or 3 years of age are the ideal. I’ve talked to a couple breeders who don’t stick hard and fast to the 250-300g rule as long as the female is at least 3. Each individual is different and may not reach the standard weight within their first three years. That being said, I am by no means an expert and am merely sharing what has been shared with me.
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Thank you I have been able to find no viable information recently and this chart is very helpful glad to know I was on the right track
I was wanting a hognose for a long time i think they are cute and from the side they look lime they are smiling.
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Hey there! I’ve found it’s hard to have hard and fast rules as hogs can vary quite widely as individuals, much moreso than other species I work with. I tend to eyeball food size, checking if the width of the mouse is approximately the width of the snake at its thickest, but some do better on smaller meals and for whatever reason regurge what may seem an “appropriate” meal size. As the quoted chart suggests, smaller is better.
As for breeding size, that is definitely trickier due to the wide spectrum of adult female size. We rely more on age than size, though again, there is an element of feel to it. We like our girls to be at least 2 years old and 200g–BUT we’ve had adult females who’ve never hit 200g for whatever reason. Our anaconda het toxic grumpypants Beulah was 170g in the non-breeding season, even at age 9. She laid small clutches (under 10) which worked for her just fine. Meanwhile, we have younger females in the 400-500g range–it just depends.
This is why many breeders focus on maturity (age) over weight. Note that if a female has been a PITA feeder as a juvenile and thus is smaller as a 2yro, we wait until they turn 3 because their smaller size is more likely due to stunted growth than just being a smaller individual. I’m looking at YOU snow superconda Shenanigans! Harrumph. 2023 it is for her.
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I just want to say thank you for this bit of information! I had originally held back on pairing my female this year because while she is three, she hadn’t yet hit 200g. However, due to behaviour between her and my male in their separate enclosures, I chose to pair them anyways, and I was doubting my choice. This sets me at ease.
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