Meet Diego the Western Hognose

[SerpentineDream]

Diego has apparently lived here rent-free long enough.... A friend sent this "Will Work for Mice" plaque for the snake room with him in mind. He bangs against the side of his tub to remind me that he's there and would like to be served first on feeding day when the aroma of rodents is in the air.

Time to brush up his resume. He's a 2013 normal red phase, possibly het for albino and 20 inches long. His likes include hopper mice and burrowing. Skills include hissing, puffing, cobra impersonations and mock strikes. Could possibly find work standing in for rattlesnakes in Western movies if he doesn't blow it by flattening his neck and if the makeup department can supply him with a false rattle. However he's actually quite a people snake and is easy to handle. :)

http://i1361.photobucket.com/albums/r669/Serpentine_Dream/Mobile%20Uploads/20161006_071713_zps0idecnll.jpg (http://s1361.photobucket.com/user/Serpentine_Dream/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20161006_071713_zps0idecnll.jpg.html)

[Piggybuns]

Oh how lovely! Congrats on the hoggie addition! Hognoses have the most interesting faces, is the scale on the end of their nose hard like a horn, or just a few plates of flexible scale?

[macandchz]

like the sign and love diego. hoggies are so sweet and they seem to be such good eaters . i have times when i wish mac was a hoggie!

[Albert Clark]

Wow! That Diego is a mess. Very nice story about him and his attributes. Kept me laughing. Thanks.

[JellyBean]

Haha! Love it.
Sorry Diego, it's slave labor for you buddy ;)

[savvylr]

Cute guy! Love hoggies. Just got in my own normal girl a couple of days ago. She is super chill. I'm very pleased with their dispositions.

[Plumbstring]

Diego I got some work for you come and scare the neighbor kids off my lawn. I have a freezer full or mice any size you like. Could not stop laughing and saying awww at the cuteness

[Tsubaki]

What a great guy :D he sounds like a lot of fun to own!

[SerpentineDream]

Oh how lovely! Congrats on the hoggie addition! Hognoses have the most interesting faces, is the scale on the end of their nose hard like a horn, or just a few plates of flexible scale?

As far as I can tell the rostrum (the scale making up the hog snoot) appears flexible. I haven't pushed on it to test this theory because that tends to cause a reflexive bite. This reflex can be exploited if you're trying to get a picky youngster to eat. If you are bitten, however, you can push upward on it to get them to release. They don't bite defensively though... they're all bluff. Bites only occur when you get mistaken for food (i.e., handle rodents and then your hoggie) or if you press on the rostrum.

You wouldn't know he was all bluff to watch his balloon animal-steam engine-rattlesnake-cobra display though. :D

[Andy_G]

It's a rigid scale but that area of the skull does kind of come to a point as well. It's main purpose is to dig for toads in the wild, so if they were too flexible that just wouldn't work. :)

Cool story and nice hog!

[Railrider1920]

Good story...good looking snake there