What to feed a baby western hog nose snake?

Question

I hear you can feed them pinkies and mice as they get bigger, and we feed our pythons mice, so I didnt know if it is a good idea for mice to be fed to a hog nose as well or what was the best thing to do for him? thanx!

Answer 1

If you bought it from a breeder, it should already be eating pinky mice. If you caught it, you should let it go and buy a captive bred one. If it's not eating mice, there is one way that works great. Pour tuna fish juice on the pinky mouse. It's worked everytime for me with stubborn hatchlings with western hogs. Easterns are a whole different story. They rarely convert to rodents.

Answer 2

Some Hognose snakes can be made to take pinkies, but it is not healthy. Hognose snakes feed almost exlusively on toads in the wild and live much longer and healthier on a diet of just that. They occasionally will take other amphibians as well. Like the first answerer said, if you cannot supply it with toads on a regular basis, it would be best to release it. They are interesting pets, but are more demanding than most others as far as feeding. When winter hits, you may be able to feed it thawed toads if live ones are scarce.

Answer 3

If you can get it to eat pinkies, go for it, it will make your life much easier in the long run. If it won't eat pinkies, it probably wants toads (hogs are notorious toad-eaters). If you caught it and can't get it on pinkies and can't keep a constant supply of toads, please release it as close to where it came from as possible, animals don't hang out in places where there's not a good food supply.