Reptile & Amphibian Forums

One of the westerns I got recently (10 days ago) has yet to eat a pinky for me. I have heard about scenting them, specifically with toads, but I live in NJ and am having trouble finding wild toads, althought I did try scenting one with a frog that I found. I'm not too big on using WC items, to even scent a pinky, so I would like some information on other techniques. I have heard of chicken, tuna water, and geckos. I do have these 3 items avaiable, but before I go through the trouble I wanted to get some feedback from you guys. Has anyone tried any of these? Are there any other methods that work and involve "household" type items instead of wild caught animals? Should I even try scenting yet, or maybe give her another week to get started?

Thanks,
Chris

I used a green anole from the petstore last year to get a picky feeder (actually a non feeder) started. It worked like magic!
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Joe

Seeing that you got her 10 days ago, you may want to allow a little time for adjustment. Sometimes the move to a new home can be a bit stressful for a new snake. Let her be for another week and try to offer food then.

I have personally had success with tuna water for scenting. But be sure it is tuna in spring water and not tuna in oil!!! Just dip the head in the tuna water and let it drip off. Don't offer a soaking wet food item.

To recap: Check your temps and allow some time to adjust to the new home, then offer food. If she still doesn't eat, try tuna water for scenting.

Good luck!
Robert
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Robert Charvat
1.1 het albino Western Hognose

make sure that if you do have to end up using scenting you try to avoid leting the snake taste the scent item. what i do with my problem feeding hatchlings is use a q-tip to put the scent on that way they dont taste the stuff. its alot easier to switch them over to unscented if they dont have to fight the taste.also have you tryed braining? braining with this technique works great.

most importantly check your temps like robert suggested. in my experiance the number one problem with folks new to westernhogs is they keep them like colubrids. some dont seem to mind but others hate being cold. i keep my hogs with a cool side of 83-86 and a high of 90-92.

hope this helps.
joe schmidt

Wow, thanks for all the advice. I just put a live pink in there tonight. If its still uneaten when I get home from work I'll take it out, feed it to someone else, and scent or brain something over the weekend. As for the temps, I think that I've got that right. Low 90's on the hot side, 80 on the cool side. I keep these temps 24/7 with no night time drop...Acceptable? I'll let you guys know how the attempted feeding goes.

After 10 days, I wouldn't worry at all. I wouldn't have even offered food yet, I like to get my snakes nice and hungry before offering food for the first time in a new home.

I had a western (10g) go nearly 4 months without food, no weight loss.

Don't worry, he will eat when he gets hungry.