Hognose

[mathaldo]

I'm looking to get a pair of hognoses, and would like a little information about them. I've already read some caresheets, but I would also like some input from other people who keep them.
Here are some questions:
1.) What is the best temperature for these snakes and what do you use to heat them... heat lamps, or heat pads?
2.) What is the best substrate for babies?
3.) Are they "handeable"?
4.) On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the hardest, 10 being the easiest, how would you rate their care requirements.
5.) How often should they be fed?
6.) What's a good tank size for them? I have a 2 16 QT Rubbermaid containers, would these be big enough?

Those are all the questions I can think of now.

Thanks,
Mat

[snakehunter]

Iuse a uth, and keep them at almost 90 on the warm and about 80 on the cool

I use aspen, they like to tunnel and make burrows so that allows them to do such

As they age they become more handleable, so remain kinda angry, but most seem to calm down.

Id say about a 7 or 8, these guys dont even need hides if you provide almost 2 in. of aspen.

As young the should eat every 4-7 days, and adults could eat 7-10, but watch for hunger strikes

I cant imagine 16qt in my head, but i keep mine in 2ftLx1ftWx8inD vontainer for almost a year now and they are doin great.

[mathaldo]

THanks for the reply, and I have a few more questions.

7.) Are they good escape artists?
8.) Do they go off eating during the winter?
9.) Are they a good beginner snake?
10.) I read that humididty should be low, is this right?
11.) Do you feed them in the tank or outside of the tank?
12.) Can you keep them on paper towels or newspaper, for quarantine?

Thanks,
Mat

[snakehunter]

so far neither have been great [roblem solvers or escape artists.

I have heard that thy do go off in the winter, but i have no clue as i have owned mine since february.

they make great beginner snakes, dont get too big, eat wel etc.

I just keep my humidity, just as it is in the container, w/ no special tempering, just room humidity is good.

I feed out of tank, as some substrate could be injested, just to be safe.

paper towels and newspaper do ok, but remember that these guys are burrowers, and do very well in burrow supportive substrate. I use avbout an inch or two of aspen, just change it every month or so.

no prob.
_-jacob

[bighillreptiles]

we keep owers on carefresh pet bedding ,have no problems with the humidity at the same as ower room witch is around 45% most days some times a little higher temp are 88FH on hot and 82 to 83 on cool end we put a humid hyed in when in opeg and feed every 5 days for babys f/t pinkies and every 8 days for adualts , the adualts eat for three weeks than skip a week as to not get them to fat ,Hope this helps . Just picked up a new female this eve so we will have a pair of unrelated for sale . Paul

[Matt]

everyone has covered everything pretty well, just wanted to add:
watch the humidity, hognoses are very suseptible to RI when humidity is high...so give them fresh water, but dont spray them, its unnecessary....also watch the spilling of the water dish, depending on the setup, if they spill the water it could make the humidity 100% very fast.....its not a huge deal, just be aware of it

good luck

[mathaldo]

I've read that they're slightly venomous, is this true? What are the chances you get bitten, and "injected"? What's the worse that could happen?

[rwg]

They are a midly venomous rear-fanged snake. I believe their fangs are grooved rather than hollow, so the venom runs down the groove and into the bite wound as the snake chews.

First of all, since the fangs are placed at the back, and since the snake needs to chew the venom into the wound, you wount be immediately envenomated if bitten. Just dont let him chew on you for a while.

Second, hognoses in general are not quick to bite. They have other defences such as playing dead, hooding, and "bluff" strikes with closed mouth. Not to say they wont bite, but not as quickly as many other species.

Finally the venom is very mild, so much so that it's been debated wether they should be considere venomous or not. Unless you have an allergic reaction, at most you may experience a little bit of local burning and swelling, but nothing worth worrying about. Probably you would experience no symptoms at all.

[Matt]

Ive been bit a number of times by hognoses, mostly because of feeding response, not aggression.
A little swelling occured and more bleeding than most snakebites, probably because of the presence of a mild anti-coagulant (I assume)

[mathaldo]

Is this what you can expect from a hognose bite?
http://www.herpnet.net/bite/

On another note I found this interesting western hognose, a leusistic one.
http://gallery.****************/index.php?photo=20603

Replace the stars with p e t h o b b y i s t . c o m with no spaces.

[bighillreptiles]

I would say at the worst i that could happen ,That is why you should use tongs when feeding all snakes

[hooter]

I'm staying away from hogs because i'm highly allergic to bee stings. 1 sting and i break out in hives and my throat closes up. I'm a very small precentage that can die from a single sting.

For this reason i'm not testing my luck with hogs but for another small snake that i find just as fun are pueblan milksnakes :) They are crazy when young but when they finally calm down they make for an awsome snake.

[snakehunter]

I have only been nitten once, and that was when she mistoke my pinky for a meal (hahah) BUT i did not have food in the room, so it was pure mistake. By the time you realize you are being bitten they may realize that you are not food, even then it is quite simple to take them off, just push up a bit on their upper jaw and that should help them slide off.

[thunder]

yeah, i think that guy wouldnt have had so much swelling and such if he hadnt allowed the snake to chew so much. i have been bitten by hogs before, and i removed them right away, and had no problems at all.