Meet Toadstool — Our Picky, Shy, & Lovable Hognose Snake

Toadstool!!!

Everyone Meet our cutie Toadstool, He is a very picky, shy, jumpy Hognose snake and we love him.

Our family friend contacted me saying her son and daughter in law were moving and needed someone to take their hognose because they were not able to so of course we jumped at the offer as we have wanted a hognose. Instantly named him Toadstool as no matter what hognose we got that was gonna be their name (This was my daughters rule haha).

We got him home and into his new enclosure, (he came with one but we swapped him into a different tank that would work better for him or at least we thought. Every snake is different and every type of snake is different so when you add that together of course we get a problematic guy haha.. So some snakes do not do well going in bigger enclosures even if its the suggested size, some are super super picky eaters, some are so jumpy and trust nothing.. Our new lil guy happens to be all three lol.

After 2 months of him in his enclosure and only got him to eat once while we've had him after trying soooo many different types of food and oils and ways to feed he just will not eat. So i talked to a guy at one of our local pet stores whose main thing was hognoses. I explained how he will fake attack us, he puffs up and hisses sounding like a rattle snake, will not take food no matter how we give him it.

He explained to us that some hognoses just do not like open big space even if you have a lot of filler and hides and dirt (as hognoses are bulldozers and will spend most their time under the dirt.) He told us to put him in a smaller enclosure or tub with a lid to make him feel safer. So off to Lowes i went!!

We got a smaller tub for him, filled it with his dirt that he has been using, melted holes for air flow, added a log and a smaller flat water dish incase he wants it and a heating pad with temp gauge for one side. He has now had it for nearly two weeks, he still has not eaten but he is so much calmer, he comes out way more. So i think the change is already helping him.

I always thought it was so sad to see these snakes in smaller bins with some people but after talking to the one guy and learning with my own sometimes it is needed. Something to learn from this is that just because there is an enclosure size and info out there on the net that other people say THEY NEED you also need to observe your animal and what they are telling you, they will tell you their needs and wants if you listen.

I hoping in the next week or so he will finally eat again and continue to be stress free and more content.

Info About Hognoses - They can live up to 15-20 years if taken care of correctly. The Males are smaller than the females, They can play dead when really stressed by rolling on their back and curling up and will even stick their tongue out. Their snout is designed to dig in the dirt and tunnel. They do not like humid dirt ad they come a very dry place. As a full grown snake they only need to be fed every 10 days and some can go months on a hunger strike (like ours is).