Hoggie question - have you been bitten?

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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.

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.