Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This afternoon I attempted to move my baby hog island into a new home.
The new cage had a faint odor of woodstain to it, but it wasn't too bad, and I figured it would fade in a few days.
About five minutes after putting her into the new cage, I opened to door again, and she began hissing and striking incessantly. She has never done this before, and I've handled her many times since I first got her a few weeks ago.
Just to be safe, I put her back into her original cage, and moved the new one to another floor.
Would the odor cause this sort of behavior? Or is it more likely that I just startled her somehow? (Her old cage opened from the top, and the new one from the front; perhaps the angle of my hand moving towards her scared her? Or maybe she just was trying to adjust to her new environment?) Should I wait until I can't smell anything on the new cage before I put her into it? Any help would be appreciated.

Well from my experiences, hogs are crazy. I have 3 and they are all different. There are 2 in particular that seem to go "crazy" sometimes. They get handled frequently but sometimes when we try to pick them up they will hiss and strike. One actually made it home with us and was handled for over an hour. Then the next day while being handled (and showing no sign of aggression) struck Rose in the face AND THEN started hissing. I would not be to worried about this behavior. At least we have found it to be common and will go away with handling.

Hope this helps and good luck,

Steve & Rose
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www.srsnakes.com

Many thanks for the input... any suggestions on how long I should wait as far as the cage odor goes? I think it's been at least 3-5 days since the wood was treated, but I don't want the smell to bother her...