2nd snake: Woma or Western Hognose?

Two threads in one day, whoah!

I currently have one ball python, and am considering getting a second snake. I'm torn between woma pythons and western hognoses. I find them both adorable, and they both seem to have personalities that I would enjoy.

Is one more preferable for less experienced reptile keepers than the other? Pros and cons? I'm leaning towards the woma at the moment.

Thanks!

I would lean toward the hognose, especially given you have a toddler with an interest in snakes. Womas, by and large, have a tendency to be nippy/bitey whereas the worst I have had a hognose do is headbutt me while bluffing

As someone with several womas, I do not recommend them for people new to the hobby. I love em to death, but young ones tend to be very food smell oriented and excitable, which leads to lots of "ooohhh, can I eat That"? They can also be fairly quick, which can be disconcerting to people used to the slower pace of BPs. Not to say they don't tame down with good handling, just that they are prone to being 6ft derpers.

Just my .02

Cheers,
Kat

My two cents would be in favor of a hognose. They are extremely fun little snakes. Easy to handle, not nippy, and diurnal so active more during the day.

I don't have much experience with them, but I am currently "snake-sitting" a hognose for a friend and have fallen in love. A hognose was on my wishlist prior to spending time with the little guy I'm watching now, but since have sky-rocketed towards the top of my wishlist. I'm actually pretty sure my friend just wants me to keep the snake I'm watching, but if not, I'm going to be adding one as soon as she takes this little guy back.

I have no experience with womas, but from what I understand they can be a bit nippy and probably better suited for more experienced keepers.

I also think the hognose would be a great snake for your child to grow up with. They are very easy to handle, are pretty slow-moving and their size is extremely manageable for little hands.

That's my two cents. Good luck!!

Get what you want, do the research and decide what's best for you.

I love my hognose SO much!! He's my favorite snake of five species (ball, corn, rat, sand, hog). He has attitude but doesn't bite, his face is adorable, he super easy to feed, he fasts in the winter making him a cost free pet while bruminating, never has shed issues, just all around a wonderful snake to own.

How can you resist that face?

http://pre00.deviantart.net/1400/th/...ry-d6l46nd.jpg

I do not know much about hoggies but I can tell you the Womas only downfall is it's rediculous feeding response. If you can be patient and learn to work with and around that they are absolutely one of the most enjoyable snakes I have worked with. All three of ours are absolutely fearless and non agressive/defensive. Of the 3, 2 are very easy to handle. Once they realize it is not feeding time they welcome being handled. The 3rd tries to eat the snake hook and anything she can get her mouth on for a good 10 minutes before she calms down and realizes it is not feeding time.

Thanks for all of the responses and input!

For either snake, I don't think my daughter would be doing any handling any time soon! The ball python is perfect for her for now. So this snake is more for me and advancing into the danger noodle world.

I am taking into consideration the size difference and actual bite possibility VS bluffing. I absolutely love the hognose's little face, and think the woma is stunning. Although I don't mind the challenge of quicker moving/attitude of the woma, I think the majority of you are right that the hognose is probably a better choice. 🙂 I can see how people quickly gain snake "collections" since there are so many cool choices!

I recall running across a hognose breeder in my general area, so Ill check it out further to see if they're reputable.

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Originally Posted by piedlover79

I love my hognose SO much!! He's my favorite snake of five species (ball, corn, rat, sand, hog). He has attitude but doesn't bite, his face is adorable, he super easy to feed, he fasts in the winter making him a cost free pet while bruminating, never has shed issues, just all around a wonderful snake to own.

How can you resist that face?

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...ry-d6l46nd.jpg

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What a beautiful animal! And that face 😍

Thank you! He's a red anaconda hognose. :)

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Originally Posted by asplundii

I would lean toward the hognose, especially given you have a toddler with an interest in snakes. Womas, by and large, have a tendency to be nippy/bitey whereas the worst I have had a hognose do is headbutt me while bluffing

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All that said .... Hognoses are rear-fanged and as such are classed as mildly venomous .

People like myself who are hypersensitive to most things or even sensitive to bites or stings or nuts or whatever should be very wary of having a Hognose as I understand things ...

Sooooo , can't comment on Hognoses but I have had a few Womas over the years and they are fabulous looking with tremendous personalities . Mine were ALL calm and friendly but were very food oriented with great feeding responses .

Hognose are entry level snakes however, you do have to keep in mind that they are rear fanged venomous snakes. They are not prone to bite, I work with them and never got tagged (which is a miracle since I am a bite magnet) and their venom is very MILD however you never know how one may react, from no reaction to slight swelling of the finger to swelling of the arm.

I'm not sure if I can find any morphs in my area but I'll have to keep an eye out for a beauty like that.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

All that said .... Hognoses are rear-fanged and as such are classed as mildly venomous .

People like myself who are hypersensitive to most things or even sensitive to bites or stings or nuts or whatever should be very wary of having a Hognose as I understand things ...

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I did learn that while researching hognoses. It seems that the probability of having a serious reaction is very slim. I'm not allergic to any insect/animal bites/stings that I know of, so I'm not really worried about that. It would just be something to take into consideration as far as being extra careful when feeding or taking him out of the cage.

I don't think you can go wrong with either choice. Both have plenty of learning experience to offer you as a keeper. The hogs are cute little puffy bluffers but you'll probably have their behaviors pegged within a couple weeks - at least until brumation time then you get another lesson or two. Aspidites have a few more tricks up their sleeves, behavior wise, so you might have more growing room as a keeper if you choose that genus.

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Originally Posted by TattedLass253

I'm not sure if I can find any morphs in my area but I'll have to keep an eye out for a beauty like that.

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My advice don't limit yourself to local purchase there are plenty of nice hognose out there check the Hognose Section on Morph Market morphmarket.com

If you get a male hognose they stay pretty small so you will have room to add a woma later (:

Well, the tides have turned! I ended up rescuing an amelanistic corn snake from someone who passed away. I'm not sure how old she is, but she's very friendly and adorable. I named her Lola. :)

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Originally Posted by TattedLass253

Well, the tides have turned! I ended up rescuing an amelanistic corn snake from someone who passed away. I'm not sure how old she is, but she's very friendly and adorable. I named her Lola. :)

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Nice second snake ;)

I love Corn snakes , one of my oldies is an Amel Stripe Corn - perfect in every way :)

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Nice second snake ;)

I love Corn snakes , one of my oldies is an Amel Stripe Corn - perfect in every way :)

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Nice!

She scared the crap out of me earlier. I noticed she borrowed pretty quickly after I put her in her cage. About six hours later when I went to bed I checked on her, and she hadn't moved an inch. I touched the top of her head that was peeking out and she didn't flinch - my BP would have jerked his head away. I felt her body and it felt kind of cold, because she's been on the cool side. I thought she was dead until she flicked her tongue. Is that normal behavior for corns? I'm guessing she's just anxious.

Corns are a lot of fun. Definitely very different from BPs.

Yes, they will burrow, especially when acclimating to a new environment. Mine burrow occasionally, but not as often as they used to.

Enjoy your new corn snake, definitely different from a hoggie or a Woma, but a great snake. I love my corns.

Not sure I'd get anything venomous, even mild rear fanged with a toddler in the house. If anything happened someone could cry child abuse and you could get into a lot of trouble, especially from people that really don't know snakes (and fear snakes) and find out you have a venomous snake in the house with a toddler.

I had an older woma male that was very difficult to get to eat. I eventually sold him, but I do remember that he seemed pretty high maintenance. I.e. all my other snakes are content to sit in the tub, but the woma would pace the front window wanting to come out to play. He loved being handled. I sold him because I just didn't have the time to spend with him, I sold him to a family with kids. Out of my 20 snakes I have one other one that loves to be out and to be held, my Banana King snake. He is a super aggressive eater but would never try to bite me, I think he is my coolest snake.

Good job on getting the corn snake!

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

Not sure I'd get anything venomous, even mild rear fanged with a toddler in the house. If anything happened someone could cry child abuse and you could get into a lot of trouble, especially from people that really don't know snakes (and fear snakes) and find out you have a venomous snake in the house with a toddler.

I had an older woma male that was very difficult to get to eat. I eventually sold him, but I do remember that he seemed pretty high maintenance. I.e. all my other snakes are content to sit in the tub, but the woma would pace the front window wanting to come out to play. He loved being handled. I sold him because I just didn't have the time to spend with him, I sold him to a family with kids. Out of my 20 snakes I have one other one that loves to be out and to be held, my Banana King snake. He is a super aggressive eater but would never try to bite me, I think he is my coolest snake.

Good job on getting the corn snake!

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My Kingsnake is by far the most "personable" snake I've ever encountered. He's got a fantastic personality, much more sociable than any of my other snakes and pretty much any snake I've ever encountered. And yeah, heck of an aggressive eater, but sweet as can be otherwise (unless he's in shed, then he's a jerk, hahahaha).
I would get another King in a heartbeat, but I wouldn't want to get another juvenile. Just too small and flighty for my personal tastes at this point.

It's not so much the burrowing I was questioning, it's the behavior that seems weird. This morning she is still in just about the same place?

Maybe just going into shed ?

I haven't read all through the thread though ..

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Originally Posted by TattedLass253

It's not so much the burrowing I was questioning, it's the behavior that seems weird. This morning she is still in just about the same place?

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My garters at least have picked up the habit of not moving some of the time when I touch them. They don't bother to move for a minute or two while I pet them since they've decided they don't really care I guess - freaks me out every time. But equally often they're all the way across the tank before my hand gets anywhere near them and more often than either of those, they're busily checking if I have food. I don't know that the behavior is normal for your corn snake, but it's at least definitely possible for colubrids that are acclimated to humans. She might have thought that she was well enough hidden and was just fine with where she was. They don't have the head shyness that ball pythons do.

A lot of snake behavior will make more sense if you look at the instincts at play. Look at where your species comes from, what they eat, how they hunt and what eats them. These things may give more insight to your snakes behavior.

She snapped out of whatever mood she was in and is much more active now. I know the person who had her temporarily from the rescue didn't feed her so I'm going to offer her a mouse and see what happens.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4e6ad520ac.jpg
Here she is.


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