handling and viv size for my hognose

[jono 73]

hi guys, im new to this site today, hi everyone! i purchased a western hognose yesterday from a private seller, he is fully grown length wise and in a viv measuring approx 40cm x 60cm, is this too small as he seems crampt, also how often can i handle him. would love as much feedback and advice as you can give me as im a newby to snakes thanks guys, jono 73

[Will0W783]

Hello jono. A good rule of thumb is to have a cage that allows one square foot of space for each foot of length of the snake. I use a sweaterbox rack for my hognose, and that's about the floor space of a 20-gallon long tank. It sounds like you are probably ok...snakes prefer tight spaces and lots of hides. Hognose snakes are very easy to care for- they are tolerant of temperature lapses to a certain degree, and need little extra humidity beyond what we humans find comfortable. Keep your temps in the mid-to high 80s on the basking end and around 78-82 on the cool end and you'll be fine. I keep mine on aspen- make sure it's thick enough that the snake can burrow. Hognose snakes have the peculiar nose scale for just that reason- in the wild they burrow in leaves and dirt.
As for handling...it's a good practice to give any new snake a week or so to settle in before you start handling them. It allows them to get used to the new sights and smells of their cage without the added stress of your smell and being moved around. Once your snake has settled in you can handle occasionally. I would think that 2-3 times a week would be the maximum you'd want to handle it. I handle my snakes on average once every 2 weeks- I have enough that that allows me to handle 1 or 2 a night, for 5-10 minutes each. Excessive handling has been shown to lead to bad sheds, stress and anorexia in snakes, but some handling is necessary to keep a snake tame. They are not equipped with the best memories in the animal kingdom, lol.
Best of luck with your new little friend and we'd love to see some pictures!