Your hognose can't tell you the warm end has drifted cool or that a string of refused feeds isn't just a phase. baskr watches the pattern across your logs, temperature, humidity, weight, feeding and shedding, and shows you what needs attention before it becomes a problem.
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Western Hognose Snake
Seasonal feed refusals
3 refusals this autumn, but weight is holding, likely a normal strike-off. Keep watching.
Warm end
30–32°C · 86–90°F
Cool side
23–24°C · 73–75°F
Humidity
30–50%
Ideal ranges for Heterodon nasicus, the same targets baskr scores your logs against.
Basking and warm figures are surface temperatures at the spot; cool and ambient are air. Measure with a probe or infrared thermometer at the animal's height.
Diurnal
Active by day
Great Plains of central North America
Wild climate. Dry grassland and sandy soil; hot summers, cold winters.
Why the care is what it is. This is why it likes a dry setup with deep substrate to burrow, a 30 to 32°C warm spot, and often brumates.
Logging is the input. The product is spotting when a single off reading becomes a pattern worth acting on.
30–32°C (86–90°F) at the warm end
A few degrees cool for a week and digestion, appetite and activity quietly drop.
A cool side of 23–24°C (73–75°F)
No real gradient leaves a hognose unable to regulate, and can stall digestion.
30–50% for an arid species
Persistently high humidity is a respiratory-infection risk worth catching early.
Steady gain in growing snakes, stable in adults
A downward trend across two or three weigh-ins is an early red flag.
An appropriately-sized rodent every 7–10 days
Hognoses are notorious for fussy patches, baskr helps you tell a normal strike-off from a run that needs attention.
Clean sheds in one piece
Stuck shed or retained eye caps usually point to humidity that's drifted too low.
Safe to include
Avoid
An arid species doesn't need a jungle, and a determined burrower will uproot delicate plants, sturdy succulents or sealed pots work best. Skip anything you can't confirm is non-toxic.
Staples
Occasional / treats
Never feed
Supplements. Whole rodent prey is nutritionally complete, so dusting isn't usually needed, an occasional light supplement only if advised by a vet.
Good to know. Feed a single rodent roughly as wide as the snake's thickest part every 7–10 days for adults, more often for growing snakes. Males in particular can go off food seasonally, track weight, not just appetite.
The right kind of kit, pick brands you trust.
Heat source
An overhead heat source (basking bulb or radiant panel) or a regulated under-tank heater to hold ~30–32°C at the warm end.
Thermostat
Non-negotiable, it controls the heat source so the enclosure can't overheat, especially important with belly heat and a burrowing snake.
UVB lighting (optional)
A low-output T5 HO UVB tube (Ferguson zone 1–2) is increasingly recommended for diurnal snakes, mounted at the manufacturer's distance. Replace every 12 months.
Thermometer + hygrometer
Digital, with a probe read at substrate level, not stick-on dials. Check both ends of the gradient.
Enclosure
A 3×1.5 ft (or larger) front-opening vivarium with secure ventilation and a tight lid, hognoses dig and probe for gaps.
Grounded in your own logs and the ideal ranges above, plain language, never a diagnosis.
Warm end read 26°C for 5 days, below the 30–32°C your hognose needs to digest. Check the heat source or thermostat.
Hognose has refused 3 feeds and it's autumn, likely a seasonal strike-off, but weight is holding, so keep watching.
Humidity has averaged 58% this week, high for an arid species. Improve ventilation before it turns into a respiratory issue.
Enter your own readings for an instant care score, the same check baskr runs for you every day.
Enter a reading or two above to see Western Hognose Snake's care score.
A quick guide, not a diagnosis. Ideal ranges vary with age, morph and setup, and individual animals differ, so confirm anything critical with an experienced keeper or a reptile vet.
Aim for roughly 30–32°C (86–90°F) at the warm end, with a cooler side around 23–24°C (73–75°F) so it can thermoregulate. baskr checks the temperatures you log against this range and flags a sustained drift, but always verify with a good thermometer at substrate level.
They're rear-fanged and mildly venomous, used to subdue prey like toads, but they're considered harmless to humans, bites are uncommon and reactions are usually minor local swelling at most. They're far more likely to bluff, hiss or play dead than bite. If you ever have a reaction to a bite, seek medical advice; baskr is a husbandry assistant, not medical advice.
Fussy feeding is classic hognose behaviour, especially in males and during cooler months or breeding season. Check the warm end is hot enough, try scenting the prey, and watch weight rather than appetite alone. baskr charts the pattern so a normal seasonal strike-off stands apart from a decline; if weight drops or refusals persist, see an exotics vet.
Adults typically take one appropriately-sized rodent every 7–10 days, growing snakes more often. Prey should be about as wide as the snake's thickest point, hognoses fatten easily, so verify sizing against a current care sheet and let baskr track the feeding interval and weight trend.
Log your western hognose snake's care in seconds and baskr does the watching. Free for your first 3 animals.
Start freeLast reviewed August 2026. General husbandry guidance, not veterinary advice, and ranges vary with age, morph, subspecies and setup. Confirm anything critical with an experienced keeper or an exotics vet.