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Western Hog Nose Snake
Searched Western Hog Nose Snake in Reviews
Brilliant snakes! 
| Comments |
The western hognose snake (heterodon nasicus) is a small colubrid originating from north america to north mexico. This snake is extremely easy to look after as it requires no special requirements suck as humidity or an arboreal setup and will max out at about 3 ft will females generally being larger than males. The western hognose can appear to be quite aggresive by displaying a show of hissing, striking and musking but more often than not this is all for show as they rarely bite doing closed mouth strikes and some if feel threatened can in fact play dead as a defence mechanism. This snake is quite an average growing snake reaching adult size between 1- 3 years depending on how well fed the animal is, some animals can be 'powerfed' which enables them to get to breeding weight quicker, this in fact will have bad consequences later on in life as they can be prone to fattyliver disease, especially if fed on rats so they should be fed on a diet of mice although in the wild they will eat anything such as: frogs and lizards etc. This species is quite an active species and it can be interesting to watch these guys wandering around an enclosure. The size of enclosure for these is quite easy, hatchling should be kept in small cricket tubs for a couple of motnhs as they are very smalll as hatchlings and a big enclosure can leave them feeling insecure and they may go off food. Yearling to sub adults should be kept in 5 - 15 litre tubs or really useful boxes and sub-adults to adults should be kept in 33 litre really usefulboxes. They enjooy quite hottemperature so anywhere from 30-32'C is ideal for hogs.
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| Liked about it |
I love all the different colour morphs available such as albino, anerythristic, caramel albino and not to mention all the pattern morphs such as anaconda and tiger.
I enjoy the ease of care of this species.
I finally enjoy they're unique personalities as this is what attracts me to these guys them most.
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| Didn't like |
The main thing to mention are this species are rear fage mild-venemous and should be taken into account before buying one. Although often not effective on humans as it is only used to stun or kills small prey in the wild occasionly some people can have bad allergic reaction to this mild venom and this should be noted as it can cause anything from a small almost nettle to sting to a big swell and inflamation of a joint.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.5 |
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"Great small snake with wonderful personalities"
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These snakes are fairly easy to care for providing you get the husbandry requirements right, however, they are well known for having periods of going off their food even when their set up is perfect, so if this is likely to stress you as an owner it may be best to give these snakes a miss.
Quite an active snake that has a lot of character and often spends a lot of time trying to 'escape their viv' and generally roaming the viv and watching life 'go by'
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| Liked about it |
Can be amusing personalities, as some will often bluff quite a lot, do a lot of hissing and bluff striking when in viv (viv defensive).
Quite a small snake therefore does not need a really big viv.
Wonderfully cute turned up 'horny' little noses!
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| Didn't like |
What's not to like!!!! However, would be extremely remiss to not mention that these snakes are classed as 'mildly venomous' and therefore if they do bite you, and it is not a 'dry bite' then you could end up with a reaction to the bite that varies from a 'small, nettle like sting that itches and gives minimal pain' right through to a fairly severe reaction if you are unlucky and allergic to their venom which can cause severe pain for a few days, swollen limb, and at least one person that uses this form feels he has now got an impaired immune system following a bite from a hoggy. However, loads of others on this forum have been bitten by them and had very mild or no reactions.
Can be a pain in the bum, sometimes for months on end when not eating therefore can end up wasting food, but as long as not loosing much weight, this is fairly normal for the breed.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.5 |
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Fantastic 'small snake'
| Comments |
Western hognoses are amazing! They are easy to care for providing the correct requirments are met. Heterodon nasicus is the Latin name for this species. Native to Noryh America they are a burrowing snake in nature hence the 'hognose' upturned snout they have. Females max out at 36in, males usually 24in. In captivity they require a warm, well ventilated vivarium, I use aspen as the substrate around 3inches deep as you hognose will make tunnels throughout. A hotspot of around 88'f works well with hoggies. Hognoses have a high metabolic rate meaning they are very active and require smaller food items more often. Mine get a meal no bigger than the girth of the snake every 3-4 days. Being diurnal (active during the day) I believe a good 12hour light cycle is important, perhaps more than 12 hours of daylight, mine are in wooden glass fronted vivs facing the window so recieve lots of light. In the wild their diet consists of lizards, frogs, toads and even insects, but in captivity they are switched to rodents. Hatchling hoggies can be a pain and even adults, my males offer cease feeding during breeding season.
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| Liked about it |
I know of no other snake with the character of a hognose! They are usually always friendly, active and a joy to watch! A tough little snake which presents few
problems. Hognoses are really taking off with some awesome morphs now available such as different albino strains, condas, snow, hypo and ghost + more! The new cornsnake?
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| Didn't like |
To be honest I'm finding it hard to find reasons not to like hoggies! I suppose the occassional fussy feeder, high price of morphs and the fact they eat a lot! Lol
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
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Snake with a difference..
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The hog nose is a small interesting little snake, there for being good for those of us with limited space and dont fancy a burmese python! Dont need a very large set up and just need a heat mat with a stat of course, other wise setup can be quite plain with hides at both ends to allow the snake to regulate its temp a water bowl and some substrate (from soil to aspen or news paper) anything else is added extra an optional.
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| Liked about it |
I like the fact they stay small.
Dont need anything to special.
Cute faces!
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| Didn't like |
The smell when they decide to smell dead.. its strong!
Not always wanting to eat when you think it should.
And that can be hissy, strike and mildly venamous should be taken in to account of your nervous of snakes!
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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4.0 |
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Amazing Snakes!!
| Comments |
These snakes are very easy to care for. The require low humidity and temperatures slightly warmer than a cornsnake (30-32 degrees). Because these snakes do not get very large, they do not require massive enclosures. They are exciting snakes to watch, being diurnal and typically quite active, with impressive defensive displays including hooding, loud hissing, false striking, and eventually playing dead. It is important to mention that they are venomous, and although this is reported commonly to be mild, if heavily envenomated, the area, and affected limb will swell, blisters may develop, and long term scarring at the blister sites may occur. Although one is very unlikely to get a bite unless as a feeding response, which can be easily avoided.
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| Liked about it |
These are very pretty snakes, very active during the day, and very easy to handle.
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| Didn't like |
They can go off feed, and be tough to get going again. The shedding process takes much longer than some snakes, with the blue phase lasting almost a week in one of my snakes. They can be prone to RIs if the humidity is too high.
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
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Wasn't a fan... till i got one! (Now converted!)
| Comments |
The first day i got my hognose, he was very hissy and protective of his living area. His hissing and feigning strikes was worrying but now iv found that once he is in hand there is no hissing or striking. They are very easy to keep as they need no special temps or humidity. Also they don't grow to an unmanageable size so viv space is not an issue. I used to think they were unusual in a ugly way, now i find them unusual in an intriguing way. Would recommend to anyone.
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| Liked about it |
Keeled scales
Manageable adult size
Unusual appearance
Very active during the day
No harder to keep than a corn
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| Didn't like |
The hissing did unnerve me to begin with (over it within minutes)
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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5.0 |
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Great animal, fairly easy to look after.
| Comments |
Basic minimum requirments are 3t X 2ft X 3ft vivarium, heatmat, water dish and hides and if kept and handled correctly they're generally a docile and content snake showing curiosity when you enter or pass their enclosure. I'd recommend adding a thermometer to keep an eye on your snake's enviroment.
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| Liked about it |
There are very interesting and great to keep as well as very easy to house and handle also they may only neeed a medium to large mouse once per week.
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| Didn't like |
They can sometimes "play dead" which involvesa bad odour and they may be a bit territorial (vivarium defensive).
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| Overall satisfaction: |
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3.5 |
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