Baby Hognose Started Biting

[Impa_111213]

Hi,

I got my first hognose about a month and a half ago. I'm not sure of his age, but he currently weighs 14g. About a week and a half ago his personality started to change. He no longer hisses, unless it's shortly after he ate, but he started trying to bite while being handled. I used to be able to handle him with no problems, he'd just cruise around on my hands and look around. Now as soon as I put him in the palm of my hand he freezes for a second and then tries to bite. I've always washed my hands before picking him up. He has no problems with me getting him water or anything, just while holding him. Is it normal for babies to start biting? Will he grow out of this? It's hard to hold him right now because he tries to bite every time, so I'm unsure of how to tame him. I feed him a frozen/thawed pinky every 5 days, should I be feeding him more often?

Thanks!

Ashleigh

[Andy_G]

Some lines will try to eat everything. I have had adults try to eat fingers, blankets, hooks, you name it. All you can do is continue handling.

I would maybe suggest doing 2 pinkies every 5 days. He's not quite large enough for fuzzies yet.

[TRD]

Babies can be more snappy, in general they will get out of this with normal handling. Remember you are big & scary, snake is small, baby snake is generally a menu item for about anything else.

All you need to take care off is to ensure you do not accidentally program in that if he shows aggression, bites, musks, flees, panics, whatever, he will be put back into his safe place. He will always and ever prefer his enclosure over any other unfamiliar location. Eventually (or mostly/hopefully) he will understand you do no harm when you build up this trust relationship.

edit: Just don't let a hognose chew on your hand/finger... obviously.

[Andy_G]

Baby western hognose don't defensive bite like that. They will hiss, flatten, curl their tail andand at most closed mouth strike in defensive situations, but the above excellent information TRD mentioned applies to almost all other snake species. This is definitely a "gonna try to eat you" kind of response. The very few babies that do this will almost always outgrow it.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/Andy_G/Western%20hognoses/DSC0007910-HAF2-04.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Andy_G/media/Western%20hognoses/DSC0007910-HAF2-04.jpg.html)


Almost always...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/Andy_G/Western%20hognoses/DSC02882.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Andy_G/media/Western%20hognoses/DSC02882.jpg.html)

[Impa_111213]

Thank you guys! I figured it was more of a "trying to eat me" response. I swear he's getting thicker and longer this past week or so, so he might just be going through a growth spurt. He used to hiss and flatten his head out a lot, but after about a month of having him, it's almost completely stopped. Now he just tries biting. Is feeding him every 5 days enough, or should I try every 3-4?

I attached a pic of the little guy! He's a snow morph. Also, the photo turned sideways for whatever reason, and am unsure of how to fix, but you get the idea. :)

[Andy_G]

Yeah...he got comfortable haha. I would feed 1 pinkie every 4 days or two pinkies every 5 and as soon as he hits 25-30 grams empty he's good to take fuzzies. Fast metabolism on these little buggers.