As you may know, I just started working with hognose in the field, and that extended to some in captivity. Which also extended to some westerns. My field work is with Mexican hogs.
Part of the field work is to observe and determine what is important prey wise and at what time of year. Which means, I observe what the wild ones eat and also test prey items in captivity.
With toads, high level prey drive is species dependent. That is, they are causal with Sonoran toads, neonates won't touch them, medium with red spotted toads, and are highly attracted to Green toads. Which Great plains toads in the middle(those are the toads on the study site. Sorry, theres no tuna there or fish of any kind.
As published in some hog books, with the hognose in the western and southwestern parts of their range, lizards and lizard eggs may be the prime item of their diet.
I have to ask, why don't folks scent with lizards?
My son obtained a pair of western hogs, an albino female and a het male. The female is growing like a weed, the male fed off and on, most times tuna scented. He finally turned the male over to me and I started with green toad scented fuzzies and that male is now feeding great and growing like a weed.
Of interest, I keep a pair of green toads as captives and they are hardy and fun to keep and are not upset by having a fuzzie rubbed on them. Most times, I just drop a dead fuzzie in the toad cage for a bit and that's all it takes.
Again, I am new, but if I was breeding hogs like many here, I would keep that pair of toads as part of the program.
So my question is, are there those out there that keep live toads or live lizards for scenting. And are they preferred species?( for when the need pops up)
Thanks
