# Natural Viv for hognose?



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

I want to upgrade my hognose's enclosure after being deeply inspired by this thread: http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snakes/878380-naturalistic-snake-enclosures-fake-walls.html After that, my corn snake too. 

I don't know the best way to solicit advice. So I've summarized my current setup and my thoughts/questions. 

Substrate: He has 3/4 aspen now, and a spot of Eco Earth (trial baisis) that he seems to like. He has a humid Eco Earth hide as well that he uses. I'd like to consider a soil substrate, but not sure what sort of mix/dampness and what sort of leaf litter or other topping to use, or if it's even appropriate. 

Housing: He currently has a 24x12x18h Viv, but I'm not sure if it's too small for him now or not. He is out basking/roaming quite a bit - I worry he lacks adequate space. He has a heat mat. 

Lighting: LED lights and halogen basking light. He's out more, active and basking (though on another hunger strike) with the new warmer bulb. I'd like to incorporate the basking light as well as potentially UVB. What UVB would be ok for a hognose? Are snakes like bearded dragons and do best with fluorescent tubes? What concentration? I know they don't need it, per say, but I want to give the little booger a awesome home - he's with us for the long run. 

Furnishing: he has 3 hides, warm, cool and warm humid. I am thinking about building something like the retes stacks for him, in addition to the rock wall. Any other types or enriching furnishes? 

He is 2-3 years old (can't find record ATM) 18" long & 75g. He's been a sporadic feeder since we got him - he's been slow to grow for it, but otherwise seems healthy. He's active, poops, sheds (infrequently), explores his habitat and is generally full of sass. 

Any thoughts or suggestions to improve his life, I'm all ears. Thanks I advance


----------



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

No one? Bummer. 

I am moving forward with a halvsies approach. Rather than get a new tank I've flipped the current one on its side. Will be building a new lid and converting the current lid into a wall. I've started a removable rock formation to add more hides and a basking platform. The idea is for more diverse microclimates. Not sure where to put the heat mat ... Leave it on the back or put it on the bottom?



Since the frame of the tank is wood I'll be skipping a soil substrate for the time being. I'll be devising some more attractive humid hides than the Tupperware I've been using. I might make a soil "pit"... Not sure. The coco coil I have now dries out too fast. 

Also, I ordered The Art of Keeping Snakes - I'm looking forward to it.


----------



## RoninUK (Aug 30, 2007)

I haven't bothered to build backgrounds for my Hoggies but they do climb on and behind the foam backgrounds that came with their Exo Terra vivs. I keep most of my Hoggies on a deep layer of Megazorb which looks rather like desert soil, they really like to burrow through it - and it is great for spot cleaning and very cheap if you get it from horse supply stores.

If you want naturalistic looking hides one of the aquarium companies does a range of hollow artificial rocks which look good and can generally be bought in a 3 for 2 offer in Pets at Home. It is worth checking the castings for sharp edges and spikes before use though. I had to sand several down but my Hoggies that have them really seem to like them and they slither in and out of the holes in the "formation " a lot too. It is also a handy platform to put food on which is off the substrate. Being resin they are very easy to clean.

If you can get it pieces of Choya Cactus skeleton make great furnishing too - and are hollow.


----------



## Iulia (Mar 2, 2011)

sorry can't help but have a free bump - its easy for threads to get lost


----------



## herpivore (Jun 11, 2013)

Hey

Here is my attempt at a hoggy viv 

He has moist coco fibre to the left and a reptile sand and soil from the garden mix to the right. Its not exactly as i want it but work in progress.

He seems to really like the humid end, a lot of keepers in the US give hoggies a permanent humid layer, as in the wild they appear to spend most of their time burrowed in moist dark ground. 

He basks under the hot spot then hides in the cool


----------



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

Thanks for the replies and ideas (and bump) everyone. 

Herpivore, I was experimenting with a humid layer since he used both of his humid hides frequently. He seamed to use it just as much as the aspen area so I might do something like, you have with a material gradient. It just occurred to me that I can silicone over the wood on the inside and seal it up. Finding a soil mix I like may take a minute though. 

I've been plugging away at my rocks. I decided to make them removable so I can use them if I decide to switch tanks and keep cleaning easier. I'm debating what to do about depth. I may make a bottom for them to keep the features above ground level but still have the hide at least in the big one functional. Poor planning there. 

The moss is wild collected (super clean area) and has been baking in my hot garage all summer. It's dried out and either dead or dormant, but it stayed remarkably green. It will get glued on with hot glue. 

If I go with soil I may put a succulent or two in it, and see if I can't find a good tumbleweed looking branch for in there.


----------



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

RoninUK said:


> I haven't bothered to build backgrounds for my Hoggies but they do climb on and behind the foam backgrounds that came with their Exo Terra vivs. I keep most of my Hoggies on a deep layer of Megazorb which looks rather like desert soil, they really like to burrow through it - and it is great for spot cleaning and very cheap if you get it from horse supply stores.
> 
> If you want naturalistic looking hides one of the aquarium companies does a range of hollow artificial rocks which look good and can generally be bought in a 3 for 2 offer in Pets at Home. It is worth checking the castings for sharp edges and spikes before use though. I had to sand several down but my Hoggies that have them really seem to like them and they slither in and out of the holes in the "formation " a lot too. It is also a handy platform to put food on which is off the substrate. Being resin they are very easy to clean.
> 
> If you can get it pieces of Choya Cactus skeleton make great furnishing too - and are hollow.


I never knew what those things were! Thanks for that tip, not sure where to get them (I'm in the us) but I like it a lot. 

The megazorb is dry, right?


----------



## RoninUK (Aug 30, 2007)

We get Choya occasionally in specialist pet stores but I shipped some over from the States which I found on e-Bay. It is pretty tough.

I think it comes from Arizona/New Mexico deserts but I believe a lot of the cactus species are protected so I can't comment on whether collecting it is an issue.

Megazorb gives off a rather unpleasant odour when damp so I use it for species that like dry substrate but the Hoggies do seem to like it damp some of the time so I give them a separate damp tub with an eco-earth/shredded bark mix.


----------



## herpivore (Jun 11, 2013)

Shrimps said:


> Thanks for the replies and ideas (and bump) everyone.
> 
> Herpivore, I was experimenting with a humid layer since he used both of his humid hides frequently. He seamed to use it just as much as the aspen area so I might do something like, you have with a material gradient. It just occurred to me that I can silicone over the wood on the inside and seal it up. Finding a soil mix I like may take a minute though.
> 
> ...


Love your rocks... Wish I could make something like that, i just know mine would look like bits of foam that i had painted lol


----------



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

herpivore said:


> Love your rocks... Wish I could make something like that, i just know mine would look like bits of foam that i had painted lol


Haha  thank you! I assure you, my first fake rock looked pretty dumpy.


----------



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

Well, I think I'm almost there. 
I need to tweak the soil - it's either too dry, too well draining or too shallow. It's 50/50 sand soil - it held form well before I put it in but now the burrows crumble too easy. Thoughts?

Also - Ill be making a wall mounted arm for the light and plan to eventually add UVB - the little booger has taken a liking to basking so that would a natural next step.


----------



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

So, I didn't really appreciate the term "fossorial" until switching to soil for the hognose. In the aspen he would tunnel, and either stay under it or use his hides. In the soil he is an excavating machine - he has constructed burrows more like dens than tunnels. He actually moves the dirt too - new piles are showing up and growing. I had to dig up one to make some adjustment to the furnishing, and it was about fist sized (a little bigger than he is coiled up) and really solid. 

I adjusted the light so the temp at the basking area is about 90-93, it drops off and the cool side of the cage is 77-80. He has slept in the gap between the litter dam and the screen so he has access to room temp (70 as well). The soil has some gradient as well, and his main burrow is under the basking side so I assume it's toasty in there. He came out to bask after upping the temp but I'm concerned I may need to adjust the rock or the basking light location. The temperature on the top surface is about 110. This has me a little concerned but is also a pretty easy to reach surface temp for rocks on a sunny day... So I'm not sure what to do. 

The main burrow is under the big rock I made, but ironically not using the build in hide or hole, just behind it. It's hard to take pictures of holes in dirt, but it's the lump in back.


----------



## herpivore (Jun 11, 2013)

He is a funky little hog isnt he :2thumb:

Loving the viv, its amazing how much their behavior changes once they move away from aspen isnt it.

My "humid" area keeps drying out, so am going to experiment with a gravel filled tray under it with a tube so I can add a few mm of water that i hope will get drawn up, we will see!


----------



## Shrimps (Mar 20, 2014)

herpivore said:


> He is a funky little hog isnt he :2thumb:
> 
> Loving the viv, its amazing how much their behavior changes once they move away from aspen isnt it.
> 
> My "humid" area keeps drying out, so am going to experiment with a gravel filled tray under it with a tube so I can add a few mm of water that i hope will get drawn up, we will see!


I never could have appriciated it without trying it myself, that's for sure. I'm pretty glad for this site and it's open-minded approach to husbandry - especially substrate. 

What are you using for your humid layer? I'm thinking I might need to add something to mine (thinking coco coir?) - controlling the moisture is proving challenging. Or I might just need more practice. It feels sort of wrong to be dumping water into the "bedding".


----------

