Hoggie question - have you been bitten?

My husband and I are talking about getting a larger enclosure for our bp in a few months and getting a smaller snake to keep in Millie's old house. We're going back and forth between a sand boa and a hognose. The only thing making us hesitate on the hoggie is the possibility of our son getting a dose of (very mild) venom. I recently read that captive bred hoggies DON'T have venom, because they don't manufacture it themselves, but rather somehow manage to recycle the poison that the toads they eat in the wild excrete. Since they eat mice in captivity, there's supposedly no venom.

I'm hoping someone here who HAS been bitten by a cb hoggie can confirm this. Can anyone who has been bitten let me know if there was any swelling or anything else that would make it any different from being bit by a bp? Other than size, of course!

Hognose strike with a closed mouth, it is more of a pecking action. Mine will peck me if I let it but it has never tried to chew on me.

There is a youtube video of a guy that allowed his hognose to actually chew on him to see the effects. They are rear fangs and actually require some work to use them. Thats what I see feeding mine live, she still refuses f/t.

Google hognose bites to see pics. It can cause swelling, pain, nausea. With any snake you can get bit but my hoggy has never struck while being held. She only does it when she is pissy and im working in her tank. Without messing with her tank I can just pick her up without drama.

Even if a hoggies chews long enough to deliver venom. The effects for most people is negligible. The worst case I've ever seen involved some swelling.
These snakes tend to bluff then play dead and create a nasty smell before biting.
I assume you would notice this before your child could get a real bite which he would most likely not even react to.

My girl was hissing and feinting up a storm last night. She "got me" with a couple close-mouthed taps. I have 3 hogs and have never been bitten. If your son treats them with respect (as he should all snakes!), I don't forsee any problems. Mine tend to be very gentle, unless it's feeding time.

I've taken a nice bite from one of my big girls who was in a feeding rage when I opened the tub. She jumped out and tagged my hand and locked on chewing. Back fangs pierced my skin and it bleed pretty alright. I took a benadryl as a precaution, but didn't really sweat about it . . . no swelling, no nausia, no pain other than the bite itself. No hurt feelings or mixed emotions ;-)

Side note: My girlfriend was tagged hard by a rear fanged venomous Leptophius (Parrot snake) in Panama this past september. It bled a decent amount, but even with it being a wild snake, with more dangerous venom than hognose contain, it was still a no reaction bite, but loads of blood as it chewed for a good 10 - 15 seconds.

Unless there is a history of reactions to bee stings, or alergy prone in general, it would be a 0 threat level. As others stated, bites from hoggies are a rare occassion! They usually strike mouth closed. My bite came from feeding initiation. You can see how my hognose acted when they were younger! I'll upload an updated video with my 375+ gram female :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ogzP1s1IXs

After a little searching I found this thread on another forum, which was very helpful.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...nose-bite.html

My son absolutely adores our bp and is very gentle with her, but has absolutely no fear of her. It's a good thing she's so mellow, because he's pretty constantly in her face. Let's just say she's not exactly head shy anymore.

If you check my sig, you'll see from my blog that my son is extremely allergy prone. If anyone were likely to react to a bite it would be him. We'll probably have to skip the hoggy for a sand boa. Too bad, since they are adorable little spuds!

Thanks everyone for the help! We'll probably get the new baby in January or February, so I'll post pics then.

Minw will just charge me with all 23 grams of force he has when he is pissy, never tried to bite.

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Originally Posted by Libby

After a little searching I found this thread on another forum, which was very helpful.

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...nose-bite.html

My son absolutely adores our bp and is very gentle with her, but has absolutely no fear of her. It's a good thing she's so mellow, because he's pretty constantly in her face. Let's just say she's not exactly head shy anymore.

If you check my sig, you'll see from my blog that my son is extremely allergy prone. If anyone were likely to react to a bite it would be him. We'll probably have to skip the hoggy for a sand boa. Too bad, since they are adorable little spuds!

Thanks everyone for the help! We'll probably get the new baby in January or February, so I'll post pics then.

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Allergic reactions to colubrid venom are virtually non-existant. Reactions to snake venom occur after being exposed via inhalation to powdered resideual venom, not due to one bite. I challenge anyone on this forum to come up with one documented case of serious systemic allergic reactions to colubrid venom - not the swelling and edema that is an actual consequence of an envenomation - but an actual allergic reaction.

Regardless of popular opinion, the number of people world wide who experience spontaneous and immediate systemic reaction to hymenoptera stings is estimated to be between 1 and 6% and this number has no bearing whatsoever on susceptibility to a spontaneous reaction from a colubrid bite.

Hognose snakes produce venom regardless of what they eat. They cannot magically synthesize alkaloids from toads into venom. Your son will be fine on the extremely off chance that he's nipped.

They only bite with closed mouth, if it is a defensive bite, it is more like a bird pecking you. Always makes me laugh:D

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BTW, plz thank if it was helpful;);):)

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Originally Posted by dgring

They only bite with closed mouth, if it is a defensive bite, it is more like a bird pecking you. Always makes me laugh:D

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BTW, plz thank if it was helpful;);):)

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They STRIKE with a closed mouth. You can't bite with a closed mouth.

Why are you asking for Thanks? Especially when you just restate what has been said. You'll get your thanks in time no need to beg for it.