Baby hognose scared of EVERYTHING

beefieee · 10-14-16, 11:42 AM

Last month I got two baby western hognoses at a reptile convention. The male is 5months and the female is 7months now. They are in 10gallon tanks next to one another with correct temp, a nice hide, water, and a good amount of aspen chips.

The male is the chillest snake I'm ever meant. Zero issues in feeding him. He just opens his mouth as to say "Right here, please!"

The female is scared of EVERYTHING. Shadows, Finders, bedding, her hide, her water, pinkies, etc. She huffs and puffs at everything, but once you grab her, she's a sweety.

The breeder claimed she was on unscented F/T pinkies but she hasn't in the month I've had her. I tried scenting with a tree frog, braining, leaving pinkies over night. Wednesday I put a few feeder guppies in a water dish in there and a live pinky..... They are all still there in a dark room. When I checked, she was actually watching the guppies like a TV show. Last night I removed the pinkie and scented him in frog guts then left him over night again. The pinky will probably go to my male tonight. No clue on where to go next as she is too tiny to ply her cute little mouth open with a pinkie.

SWDK · 10-14-16, 02:21 PM

You might want to try putting the snake in a small Tupperware container with the pinky and leaving it for a few hours or even overnight. I had a very picky western hognose hatching a few years ago and it would only eat that way for the first few feedings.

savvylr · 10-14-16, 05:11 PM

I would like to know what to do about this as well. My hoggie isn't so much scared of EVERYTHING. She is actually pretty brave and roams about a lot. But pinkies seem to freak her out and when she is near one she high-tails in the opposite direction. Anything to get away from it. I'm just waiting her out and keeping an eye on her weight and body condition. I think if she doesn't take next week's pinky, I am going to do as SWDK suggested. We'll see. Will be following this post! Hope your girl eats soon!

beefieee · 01-02-17, 05:59 PM

Update to this. After 3months of having her, she shed. I put a live pinkie in a place her normally hangs out in the daytime the next day, and she took it. A week later, I fed her a F/T pinkie without issue. She has taken 2 more F/T pinkies since like clockwork. Everytime the pinkie is down within 10mins.

beefieee · 01-02-17, 06:02 PM

@savvylr, I left a live pinkie in her tank over night every week for 3months...... You're hoggie will come around.