First time getting a Hognose and wanting to make sure my setup is ok
Shes a red albino weighs 21 grams and about 11.5” long
Born in September of 2025
I have her in a 20 long 30x12x12
Basking area is 93-94
Ambient on warm side 83-85
Ambient on cool side 71-73
Night time temp is 70
She has been very active since day one and will come to the glass when I’m around the tank
Attempted to feed her at a week but she refused
hissed and struck at the pinky on the tongs but would not eat
3 days later I tried to feed again by just putting it on a dish and all she does is just look at it
Do I need to give her more time ?
I’m used to my corn snake that will eat any chance he gets so this is new to me when they refuse
I know Hognoses are more picky but I’m concerned
Basking is just a teeny bit high, you dont want any higher than 90°F or the risk of burns becomes present.
They are unfortunately notoriously picky, my one and only girl refused to eat anything the first couple months I had her. Turns out she just wanted live pinkies and it took another several months to transition her to f/t. This is why I reccomend that people get Hoggies that are already well established unscented mouse eaters that come from trusted breeders.
If you handle your Hoggie at all you will need to stop until the little one has had at least 2 successful feedings.
I reccomend only attempting to feed every 7 days, offering too frequently may just stress your Hoggie out more… if time doesn’t help you may need to try different methods.
Method A: Washing. This one is bizarre and I actually only found out about this one recently, iirc basically you take your f/t rodent and wash it with dish soap, rinse it and then offer. Apparently it is a method that actually works despite how strange it sounds 
Method B: Scenting. Some feeder sources offer liquid scents of prey animals to stimulate a picky carnivores’ appetite, Hoggies are naturally Toad eaters and Toad scent works well. Some people who keep Toads as pets actually will rub f/t rodents on their Toad’s substrate or bodies to scent the rodent and then feed to their Hoggie.
Method C: “Braining”. This one is quite barbaric and hard for the squeamish but I find it does help for picky eaters sometimes. Basically you take a f/t pinky mouse or whatever size your Hoggie currently eats and puncture the top of the skull between the eyes (I use toothpicks). Some picky eaters find the scent of the matter that comes out irresistible.
Method D: Live feeding. This is my last-resort method because it can take quite a while to get Hoggies off of live mice once they start on them, and as they get older their prey does get more dangerous. Even more so the fact that Hoggies do not constrict their prey. Its extremely dangerous for the snake with the risk of significant bites and a horribly painful and slow death for the rodent. So if you resort to live try to make an active effort to get them switched over as quickly as you can.
But again sometimes things just need time. Be patient, only offer 1x a week and monitor your baby.
If you notice any out of the norm behavior or sudden rapid weight loss get your Hoggie to the vet.
Edit to add: What is the cage setup like other than the parameters provided?
