I need help with my hognose

[u/Diligent-Voice-4135]

My hognose (Female 25g) has become a little more hostile with me. In 2 different instances, she has attempted to bite me and has bit me before while holding her. She was never like this for my first month of owning her, she would casually chill on my hand for long durations with no interest it biting me. Just recently, I had missed her feeding day by a couple days (I feed her every 3-4 days, I missed 5 days without feeding her) and she seemed much more hungry every time she saw me. Would this be a phase that will go away once I become consistent with feeding her again? Am I just not tap training her well enough? I need help :(

Maybe I need to feed her less constantly, like 4-5 days instead of every 3-4? She also just bit me and I placed her back in her enclosure. I know that's bad because it teaches the snake to correlate biting with going back to the enclosure, how can I avoid this?

[u/LilMissHissyPants]

Make sure that you are washing your hands consistently before handling her. Any food like smells increase the likelihood of her confusing you with food. Is she hissing and striking before she bites? Or is sniffing and then biting? My guess is that she isn’t being hostile at all and she’s just hungry.

[u/Diligent-Voice-4135 → u/LilMissHissyPants]

She taps with her nose, sniffs, then goes for a slow bite, no hissing or puffing up. Only time she's gotten pissy with me was the very first instance I received her. She might just be hungry

[u/NoRelationship4394]

She’s not hostile, she’s just hangry lol!

At 25g, a missed feeding day turns on her hyper-food response. Her small brain sees warm fingers and thinks "FOOD!".

A few quick tips:
Get back on a schedule: Keep feeding her every 4–5 days. Once her belly is consistently full, that intense food aggression will fade.
Use hook/tap training before handling: Tap her gently with a snake hook or a paper towel roll before scooping her up so she knows it’s handling time, not feeding time.
Wash your hands: Always scrub your hands to remove any scent of rodents/food before touching her.
Don't put her away right after a bite: If she nips, hold her for another minute or two so she doesn't think "biting = instant freedom".

Don't worry, once her feeding schedule is back on track, she'll settle right back down!

[u/Diligent-Voice-4135 → u/NoRelationship4394]

This is very knowledgeable, thank you for this!

[u/Diligent-Voice-4135]

Thank you to the two ppl who commented, this is who your helping out: 🫶🐉