I have had hogs for a while, but recently rehomed all of mine. Quite honestly, as cute as they are, I found them to be more of a pain than an enjoyment. Hit or miss feeding, not very handleable, always having the fear of getting bit (I don't know how I would react to their mild "venom", and didn't feel it was worth risking a trip to the hospital). My hogs were VERY food motivated. Went mouth first to anything that I placed in the tank.

I have found many more of the intermediate species snakes easier to care for than these guys. They aren't a snake I would recommend as a second species. I am probably in the minority with this statement though.

As far as smaller, more inquisitive snakes, I absolutely am infatuated with Antaresia (Children's Pythons, Spotted Pythons, Anthill/Pygmy Pythons, and Stimson's). Children's and Spotteds are both very readily available, fantastic eaters, great personality, and generally just really cool animals. All of mine handle very easily, while they can be bitey as babies, their mouths are so small their teeth don't even make contact. They do well in racks or as display animals, as they will climb around and explore instead of staying hidden or burrowed in the aspen, like my hogs would do.

I just wanted to be honest and give you a different side of things. Nothing wrong with hogs, but for me I didn't find all my time and effort being put into them very rewarding.