Hognose feeding frequency

Just curious really: my hognose has taken on the dietry requirements of a Burmese Python recently (not really, but she's a greedy little so-snd-so!). She's circa 12 inches long and is now eating 2 x 2-3 week old mice a week. I am mindful not to overdo the feeding with her but she really seems to need this amount of food. Initially, she would eat perhap 3-4 pinkie\fuzzies per fortnight, but recently, and although she's now on more substantial feeds, her need for more regular feeds appears to have increased. Anyone any views to a suitable feeding scheldule for her - or do Hognoses go through a 'greedy phase' as they mature? Certainly, it's very easy to tell when she's hungry as her activity levels increase dramatically.

This is a classic mistake many people make when they keep hognose snakes. Without a doubt, hognoses are one of the most active of the colubrid group. This is one reason why they are so commonly found in the wild, along with their Eastern cousins. This does not mean they are hungry however.
With a snake the size you describe, I would recommend feeding it a small mouse or a rat fuzzy every week. This will allow the snake to grow at a steady rate and will reduce the risk, significantly, of developing a fatty liver and dying young. Before I moved to America I kept a western hognose from a few weeks old until it was 11. I then sold it and from what I here it is still going strong. As an adult male, at just under 18 inches, he ate a medium mouse weekly. The females ate a rodent with the same girth as themselves weekly and went on to produce healthy, large, viable litters.
Don;t be fooled that activity means a desire or need to eat. In the wild they have to travel over considerable distances to find a meal, which results in weight loss. In captivity, they cannot mimic such activity to the same extent between meals, and as a result become overweight rapidly.
Warren

Warren_Booth wrote:This is a classic mistake many people make when they keep hognose snakes. Without a doubt, hognoses are one of the most active of the colubrid group. This is one reason why they are so commonly found in the wild, along with their Eastern cousins. This does not mean they are hungry however.
With a snake the size you describe, I would recommend feeding it a small mouse or a rat fuzzy every week. This will allow the snake to grow at a steady rate and will reduce the risk, significantly, of developing a fatty liver and dying young. Before I moved to America I kept a western hognose from a few weeks old until it was 11. I then sold it and from what I here it is still going strong. As an adult male, at just under 18 inches, he ate a medium mouse weekly. The females ate a rodent with the same girth as themselves weekly and went on to produce healthy, large, viable litters.
Don;t be fooled that activity means a desire or need to eat. In the wild they have to travel over considerable distances to find a meal, which results in weight loss. In captivity, they cannot mimic such activity to the same extent between meals, and as a result become overweight rapidly.
Warren

Brilliant! Thanks for the detailed info - much appreciated. I shall follow the advice as I'm only too aware how easy it would be to end up with an obese and short-lived Hognose.

Warren_Booth wrote:This is a classic mistake many people make when they keep hognose snakes. Without a doubt, hognoses are one of the most active of the colubrid group. This is one reason why they are so commonly found in the wild, along with their Eastern cousins. This does not mean they are hungry however.
With a snake the size you describe, I would recommend feeding it a small mouse or a rat fuzzy every week. This will allow the snake to grow at a steady rate and will reduce the risk, significantly, of developing a fatty liver and dying young. Before I moved to America I kept a western hognose from a few weeks old until it was 11. I then sold it and from what I here it is still going strong. As an adult male, at just under 18 inches, he ate a medium mouse weekly. The females ate a rodent with the same girth as themselves weekly and went on to produce healthy, large, viable litters.
Don;t be fooled that activity means a desire or need to eat. In the wild they have to travel over considerable distances to find a meal, which results in weight loss. In captivity, they cannot mimic such activity to the same extent between meals, and as a result become overweight rapidly.
Warren

Thank goodness for that, mine gets one fuzzy per week and seems to be doing quite well, still gaining weight nicely !