Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, just wondering what toad scent works best for western hognose snakes to try to get them feeding. Thanks.
Jeff M.

Ideally you would use toads from their native range. I have used americans and fowlers with success.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes

thanks

AC sent me some southern toads to scent for my Eastern Hogs. Somehow the toads died and I freaked. This summer in the Sierra Nevada mt. range I found a puddle with some spadefoot tads. These are fast growing. I brought one home and tossed it in the fishtank and in 2 days it was a Great Basin Spadefoot. Not even anything this Eastern Hog would ever see. I touch a fuzzy on it and my Eastern Eats.
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0.1 Rubber Boa
1.1 Eastern Hognose Snakes
2.3 Western Hognose Snakes
1.0 Durango Mountain Kingsnake
1.1 Woma's (new!)
Spadefoot
Black Knobbed Sawback
Northern Diamondback
Florida Redbellied Slider
Western Painted
Southern Painted
1.0 African Hedgehog
1.0 Sulcata
2.1 Leopard (Babcocki) 1.0 borrowed (thanks Bobby)
2 Plecos
2 Silver Dollars
3 Bosemian Rainbows
1 African Dwarf Frog
1 Khuli Loach
1 Cory Cat
1 Upside Down Catfish
2.0 Fire Guramis

uhh... I think that is it.

I used a European green toad to scent. It was a Western hog though, and not a picky individual.

P.S. Synodontis nigriventis rocks!
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

I did not specify that the toad would have to come from the snake's native range, but given a picky individual that is not responding to other scents, you should consider using a native frog.

I just read an article in the Journal of Herpetology where bullfrogs are capable of determining which predatory fishes are native to their range simply by taking chemical cues from the water. This has huge implications for the animal, knowing whether or not the fish it is sharing its water with will recognize it as a distasteful food item or not. It would stand to reason that other animals, especially chemosensory oriented animals, would act differently towards animals not native to their own ranges and which they have constantly been exposed to. Since toxic secretions are the forte for Amphibians, ranivores might want to pay attention to what they sink their fangs into!!
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes