He has arrived!!!!

[Magdalen]

Finally after a month of waiting my little buddy is here. He was hatched 7/14/2015. He spent a good 20 minutes exploring his new digs and then buried himself on the cool side. Hopefully I'll see more of him once he settles in. He didn't huff and puff at me. Seemed slightly curious but nervous about me. I touched him a little on his side and he flinched a little, but he has had a big day. Shipping wasn't as scary as I thought it was. My buddy at the FedEx wanted to see him (likes snakes) but he was under his aspen in the cup. I thought at first the 20 gallon long would be too big seeing his deli cup but once he stretched out he was longer than I thought he was.
He weighed in at 90grams.
Not the best pictures of him but I'll get better ones when he settles. He looks so disapproving haha.

Anyway, I need name suggestions.

[EL Ziggy]

Very nice hoggie. The first two names that came to mind when I saw him were Leonidas ( I love the movie 300) and Mr. Ziffle (as in Arnold Ziffle, the hog on Green Acres). It's a little before your time but you can Google it. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTEcL7bw6U4

[Magdalen]

You know before he arrived I thought about naming him Cobra Bubbles hahaha but seeing him it doesn't quite fit.

[Humble308]

Sweet hoggie. They're cool little snakes for sure!

EZ, I may just steal that name Leonidas for my baja gopher :D

[SnoopySnake]

Awesome hoggie!!

[EL Ziggy]

@ Humble- Go for it. :)

[Ian of Oldham]

Well he come in a cup so , Cups may fit,


2 Royals 1 Corn 1 Boa 1 Carpet and a mad Cat

[Magdalen]

I think once I know his personality a little better naming him might be easier. I feel like he might be a gentle, shy guy. He might surprise me tho.

Anyway he hasn't moved from the cool spot since yesterday. That's fairly normal right? When should I try to feed him?

[Humble308]

Give him at least a week off to settle. My biggie rarely takes food from tongs so I usually just leave it near her hide or on her humid hide to avoid a liberal substrate coating. Pretty normal on the cool side. Most of my snakes stayon the cool side unless they're digesting. All the best!

[Magdalen]

Thanks Humble. That's what I thought. He's just different from my sand boa I had years ago. She was a pet store buy and was handled enough by the employees that she was pretty well adjusted when I got her home. Ate right away, didn't hide too much.

He seemed a little stressed, which I understand. Shipping after being in the same place for a year. I just hope he shows himself more than my sand boa did.

[Humble308]

Ah I see, I've never had a sand boa but it depends on the hog and their mood when you'll see them. Minkness has alot of hogs and could surely attest. I see mine alot nowdays, but she throws tantrums at times with hissing and trying to look tough. It's just BS for the most part, mines never even lunged for me. I gave my hoggie alot of cover with rocks and random branches and that seemed to help her shyness. :D

[Magdalen]

Yeah pretty much all I saw of my sand boa was the tip of her nose, some times her head. But you don't usually see them.

I plan to get him more fake plants. He was out and about after I left for work this morning, go figure. Haha he wore a track around the edge of the tank. Then settled onto his warm side.

[macandchz]

he's really cute. how about Harold ? i don't know why but that name came to me.

[Andy_G]

Very nice albino there! :)

[Ian of Oldham]

Sandy may go after your Boa.

0.1.1 Royals 1.0 Corn 1.0 Boa 1.0 Carpet and a mad Cat

[Magdalen]

So I've settled on Apollo for now. Until he tells me otherwise. I might not be as sold on it as I was yesterday haha.

[valkea]

Congrats! Lovely little dude :) They're a lot of fun. My hogs vary, some eat off tongs and some prefer food items left for them to eat when they're ready. Sometimes it changes from feeding to feeding.

I do love how my big conda girl often eats, I press the mouse against her snout and she just opens up and approaches slowly. SO different from my carpet python.

[EL Ziggy]

Apollo is a good name. :)

[Magdalen]

Yeah I am going to try offering food tomorrow morning, since I don't have to feed the horses in the morning. (yay, get to sleep in) I'll probably just plop it in there and leave him alone.

I'm unsure how he's going to react to me being around during the day. Today when I got home he was out, gave me the stare down and then buried himself again. So he's tucked in for the night.

I'm kind of curious to observe him (from a distance) for part of the day, anyway.

[EL Ziggy]

Are hoggies nocturnal? If so I'd suggest feeding at night.

[Magdalen]

Actually they aren't :) They are diurnal. Which is a new one for me. I'm used to nocturnal animals.

[EL Ziggy]

Actually they aren't :) They are diurnal. Which is a new one for me. I'm used to nocturnal animals.

I tried finding a care sheet to answer the question but the ones I found didn't specify. Learn something new every day. Most of my snakes are nocturnal too. Best wishes with the feeding.

[Magdalen]

Here you go :)
http://www.lihs.org/files/caresheets/Heterodon.htm

One of the few I've found that states they are diurnal. Second paragraph.


Ooooh I might be in trouble. Just found another breeder within my state who has lavender and toxic morphs. Depending on price I might pick one up at reptile expo. Hmmm then again I might go back to flip flopping on corns.

[valkea]

I uh.. may have purchased 3 more hogs this past week. Het toffee male and a 1.1 albino 66% chance het axanthic. They're addictive. But unfortunately (and kind of fortunately...) they're harder to come by here in Canada. So I totally understand haha

[Magdalen]

Well lavenders are way off the plate until the prices come way down. Yikes.

Valkea do you have pictures of them?

Well feeding was not a problem. I left a hopper in there for him after he saw me and fled. Walked away and he downed it when I wasn't looking in about a minute. Like a good eater. However he does seem pretty nervous about me. Flees and hides whenever I come too near the glass. Is that normal for Hogs? I'm hoping some gentle handling, when he's settled, will help him relax about me a little.

[Magdalen]

Apollo out and about (sort of) tonight. He doesn't like my good camera so iPad photos will do for now.

Love the color on his belly.

[valkea]

Lavenders are extremely expensive! Well, for me anyways. I do love what a evans hypo + lavender makes though. They're called "purple haze" and very pretty!

Glad he ate without trouble! He's super cute. I wouldn't be too worried about him being nervous. Some of mine hiss and puff when I go near.

I do have pics! I need to get better ones soon. Here's one of my most recent addition:

http://i.imgur.com/8hGGAbv.jpg
The het toffee male.

[Magdalen]

Yeah way too expensive for me too.... so pretty tho.
Do you find that they calm down a little with age/handling?

Oh I like him :) I almost went with a toffee but I was pulled towards Apollo's brighter colors.

[valkea]

Thanks! Yep they usually do, but some stay pretty dramatic. Just depends on the individual I think!

Nice! I just posted pics of the two others I bought... :)

[Magdalen]

He doesn't seem overly dramatic haha... just flighty. We'll see when it's time for handling.

[FinishingFlight]

However he does seem pretty nervous about me. Flees and hides whenever I come too near the glass. Is that normal for Hogs? I'm hoping some gentle handling, when he's settled, will help him relax about me a little.

Mine are all pretty flighty when it comes to being picked up. Revan is finally starting to settle down and she is about a year and half and around 95g. Sometimes she is still flighty other times she is comin to greet me almost with an open mouth for food. She even bit me yesterday when I went to get her out. I feel like hook training her so she stops thinking my hand is food. Hera is always pissy and bluffs from the moment I get close to touching her until a minute after I close her tub. We are struggling with her eating so she doesn't get handled except for cleaning and weighing. Then Kanan is flighty until I pick him up and then he settles within a few minutes. The brand new ball python and baby rosy boa are calmer than my hogs.

You got a cute one for sure, I need to add some color to my collection.

[Magdalen]

Hmmm ok so flighty might be normal. I can work with that. Hah I've heard that about females. They tend to bite more out of a feeding response.


Yesterday's mouse was ignored. I wanted to see if he'd take it from the tongs. He wasn't thrilled with that. I think I have to be sneaky like a ninja and drop it in there when he doesn't see me. Yesterday was a very active day. Trying to escape which lead to nose rubbing on the screen. Really hope that doesn't become a bad habit. I plan to put up some white paper on the sides of the tank so he might feel a little more secured.

[Andy_G]

Flighty almost always means insecurity (and therefore nervousness) with these. Covering up the sides will work nicely for you I am certain. Also, I have never ever personally experienced or heard of a defensive bite from a hognose...all feeding response. :)

Edit: You've also only had the little fella for 10 days! :)

[Magdalen]

True and he did so well with the first meal. Oh well.

I had planned to cover just the sides and leave the front open, so I can at least view him, from a distance. I kick back on my sofa from across the room and just glance in his direction every once in a while.

[Albert Clark]

True and he did so well with the first meal. Oh well.

I had planned to cover just the sides and leave the front open, so I can at least view him, from a distance. I kick back on my sofa from across the room and just glance in his direction every once in a while.

Good looking hognose! I bet he will feed with regularity once he settles in and you keep your husbandry dialed in.

[Magdalen]

Third meal refused and he had been hiding out for a week, found a present this morning for me. He shed :) Sneaky bugger, but he was out and about today and probably hungry.

I was kind of missing seeing the little dude.