Need to know a few things on my new interest.

I was thinking of other snakes I could get into and like a little earlier today, and I thought of the Hognose. They really catch my attention, and they are so adorable. They are a pretty good sized snake too, not too long and not too small. I've thought about purchasing one a while ago, but I just said to stick with the BPs. Now, I may just buy both a Pastel and a Hognose snake at the reptile expo in November.. if I get enough money on my birthday for yet another snake to add to my collection. Here are some questions I would like to know before I get this snake, and if I do decide I want this snake I'll make sure I do as much research as I can. It's a promise :]

1- how are their temperaments?
2- easy to care for?
3- if I do get a Hognose, which Hognose morph would cost me less but still looks pretty cool?
4- how big of an enclosure would an adult need?
5- do they need UTHs, or would a lamp do just fine?
6- are they finicky eaters?
7- would you recommend this snake to someone who is looking for a good beginner snake?
Any other information I would need to know on this snake will be appreciated.
Thanks!
-Tiffany

1.) Western hognose have really good temperments as far as the ones i've seen, they are reluctant to bite, and will usually play dead, or they will strike with their mouth closed and just tap you with their nose, and if they do that it chills out with age. Out of 20 or so, only one of the one's I seen did that, the one I owned was really chilled.

2.) The care is relatively easy, They don't require a huge setup, aspen bedding, 2 hides(though they wont use it a lot) and an UTH on a rheostat.

3.) I find the regular Hognose is pretty, but i'm not sure about the other morphs they have.

4.) An adult depending on the size would do fine in a 20-30 gal. Unless it's a pretty large adult over 3ft then I would say a 40 gal.

5.) UTH as they spend a lot of time at the bottom of the tank, they are dinural and active during the day, so if you want to give it some lighting you can, but UTH is what I would recommend. If you just give it light, get a very low wattage bulb on a controller from Lowe's and turn it down so it has barley any heat emitting.

6.) Some can be problem eaters, then some eat fine. They love frogs. However the one I had ate pinkies just fine. What I would do is put him in a seperate enclosure with the pinky and he would eat it alive. Just make sure the one you get is already on pinkies.

7.) I would recommend as long as the person knows that this species is considered venomous, not that you have to have a venomous license permit or anything, but check your local laws as far as owning a rear fanged venomous.

They are rear fanged venomous, but it's their saliva that is toxic. I read it only causes a reaction such as swelling in the area, depending how allergic you are to the saliva. I'm not really allergic to anything. But ya never know :O

Yes I know, but i'm just saying as a rule of thumb, they are considered rear fanged venomous, which any person owning them should be aware, as well as the parents if they are under 18. Anybody could have a bad reaction to the bite, even though it wouldn't be common.

http://www.herpnet.net/bite/

Yea I know they can do damage if you have a allergic reaction, that's why I stated for people to know what they own, and for parents also. Incase of an emergency situation.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

http://www.herpnet.net/bite/

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would you say that is the most extreme scenario of a hoggie bite? i am just getting into my research of hognose's.

That's basically as bad as it should get. You don't need to go to a hospital or anything.

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Originally Posted by lpnaz480

would you say that is the most extreme scenario of a hoggie bite? i am just getting into my research of hognose's.

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Unless you are allergic, yes. This was from FIVE minutes of letting the hoggie chew on him.

If you are allergic, it can be really bad the same way people allergic to ants or bees can have life-threatening reactions. THAT is the most extreme worst case scenario, but has nothing to do with the potency of hoggies, but how your own body overreacts to it.

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Originally Posted by RedDevil

That's basically as bad as it should get. You don't need to go to a hospital or anything.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Unless you are allergic, yes. This was from FIVE minutes of letting the hoggie chew on him.

If you are allergic, it can be really bad the same way people allergic to ants or bees can have life-threatening reactions. THAT is the most extreme worst case scenario, but has nothing to do with the potency of hoggies, but how your own body overreacts to it.

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thank you. i saw those pics and was wonderig if just a quick bite and release would cause that reaction. only one way to find out if you're allergic huh?

The problem is they don't bite and release. If you get bit, then they thought you were food. They latch down and start grinding the fangs into you. You have to run them under hot water until they let you go. It still shouldn't take nearly as long as that guy let it chew, but odds are it'll still be long enogh to cause swelling.

I wouldn't worry about it. It's pretty hard to get bit unless you are doing something stupid while feeding. Use tongs or place the food on the cage floor, and don't play with them when there are mice around and you'll be fine.

I actually got bit by mine a few days ago, thought I'd share my harrowing ordeal :)

My fault entirely for not washing my hands well enough after playing with my rats, but I was holding her in one had while I cleaned her tank with the other. I went to put her down and noticed she was latched onto the webbing between my fingers and dangling from my hand. I have no idea how long she had been biting me, but worst case scenario it was about 5 minutes. I got her off and had two teeny little pinpricks of blood. Never felt the initial bite, no pain, no swelling, no itching; absolutley no effects at all.

http://www.venomousreptiles.org/articles/97

The odds of you having an allergic reaction to snake venom is very slim.........unless you have been previously subjected to the venom.

The swelling from a hognose bite is from venom produced in a venom gland - not toxic saliva. The swelling and discomfort associated with a hognose envenomation is due to the venom - not an allergic reaction.

http://www.venomdoc.com/forums/viewt...ight=heterodon

Again, read up on venom allergies - they are due to previous exposure to the venom. The most common vehicle of this exposure is through the nose (dried venom inhalation during cleaning and handling) and is somewhat common to species that produce copious amounts of venom (and get is smeared or scattered in their cages).

Heterodon are not one of these species.

thank you to all responses. time to get back to hognose researching

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

1- how are their temperaments?
2- easy to care for?
3- if I do get a Hognose, which Hognose morph would cost me less but still looks pretty cool?
4- how big of an enclosure would an adult need?
5- do they need UTHs, or would a lamp do just fine?
6- are they finicky eaters?
7- would you recommend this snake to someone who is looking for a good beginner snake?

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1 - Like any snake, the temperament will vary on the animal. As a rule, heterodon will bluff, hiss and fake strike. Defensive bites, while not unknown, are the exception to the rule.

2 - In general - they are easy to care for. The exception is that they can be finicky eaters.

3 - A regular western or mexican hognose itself looks cool - in my opinion. I'm really not into morphs so take that with a grain of salt.

4 - I keep my adults in a blanket box rack with a deep substrate. People keep them successfully in smaller enclosures.

5 - Either way. My preference would be an UTH.

6 - They can be very finicky. That is the only really challenging part of keeping them.

7 - My son's first snake was a western hognose. Westerns make an excellent beginner's snake.