Although the hognose Snake River is n’t the most popular reptilian to keep as a favourite , it is grow in popularity over metre . Their unique feature and abnormal demeanour attract snake enthusiasts across the country . They ’re also relatively well-off to care for , making them good PET for beginners . They might prefer their alone time over time with you , though , if you do n’t get them when they ’re young .
Types of Hognose Snakes
If you ’re looking into draw a hognose snake as a positron emission tomography , it ’s significant to realise there is n’t only one species . In fact , there are several specie of hognose snake , including the Eastern Hognose Hydra , Western Hognose , Southern hognose , Speckled Hognose serpent , and the Tricolor Hognose snake . The mintage most commonly kept as ducky are the southerly , Western , and Eastern Hognose snakes .
History and Native Habitat
Hognose snake are find throughout the United States and Mexico :
Are Hognose Snakes Venomous?
Hognose snake are member of the Hell viper folk , but they are not virulent . In fact , most hognoses generally toy all in to avoid predation . They get their name from the upturned snout of the beast . These snake are often bedevil with rattler because they have like grading .
Appearance
The Hognose snake is unremarkably about 1 to 2 feet long when fully grown , but can measure out up to 3 feet in distance . They have several classifiable features that make it easy to identify ; their upturned snout , wide-eyed school principal , and large eyes give them an appearance similar to that of a pig bed or frog .
Hognose coloration vary from grey to brown with drear blotches across its back and side . The underside may be cream or lily-livered in color with black blotches covering it . This helps camouflage the snake in the grass when lie on sandlike priming coat by let it to immix into its habitat more easily .
Hognose snake have a toxic saliva made from a secretor known as the Duvernoy ’s secretory organ , but it’sgenerally not harmful to humans .
Temperament
The Hognose snake is fairly timid and does n’t particularly enjoy being handled . They are n’t lie with to be strong-growing , but they belike wo n’t descend out to greet you , either . If they are concerned with your presence , you may also notice some unusual behavior . If you do n’t have a bun in the oven it , this could be quite alarming .
Hognose snakes are bang for their power to play drained when threatened by predators or during matte up rite . When they feel threatened , they will often roll over onto their back with their mouth open and glossa string up out , while making hissing noises to scare off away predators or rival .
Hognose snakes enjoy their sentence alone , so if you want more than one snake in the habitat , verify there ’s enough territory for them each to have their own space .
Handling Your Hognose Snake
As long as these snake are socialized decently from an other age , they take to handling very well . While they may bluff out threat displays for you , they are not aggressive and these displays are not severe . Just do n’t pick your ophidian up in the midsection of such a display . Instead , wait for it to calm down before trying to address it .
Lifespan
The lifespan of the snake is important in consider which species you would like to keep as a pet . Their lifespans are :
If you ’re interested in acquiring the Western Hognose snake in the grass , take a present moment to see whether you ’re ready to care for a Snake River for up to 20 age . If not , another speciesmay suit you better .
Care Requirements
The western hognose snake is more and more popular and is one of the easy snakes to like for . They also make excellent display animals for advanced hobbyists expect for something dissimilar from a typicalball pythonor feather boa constrictor .
Terrarium
Hognose snakes are not picky about their housing conditions . In fact , they favor a more instinctive frame-up with sight of hiding point and an environs that mime their aboriginal habitat . This make them an ideal pet for beginners because they do n’t want a huge investment in equipment or provision .
A Hognose snake terrarium should be big enough to allow your pet plenty of room to move around while still render spots to hide . A minimum size of it of 24 in long by 12 inches wide by 12 inches tall is recommend for a individual adult snake , but you may need to increase this if you have multiple snakes in one enclosure or if you plan on breeding your snake in the future .
Temperature and Humidity
All Snake need a temperature slope in their enclosure . This allows them to order their soundbox temperature by simply moving from one side of the John Milton Cage Jr. to the other . Hognose snakes need temperature between 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit during the Clarence Day , with a slight drop at night down to 75 degrees .
Keep humidity around 40 to 45 % . In captivity , you should furnish a hide box that is about 3 to 4 inch deep for them at one terminal of their inclosure so they can get away from direct heat if desired .
Light
The best way to keep your hognose snake sound is with right lighting in its terrarium . You ’ll require to provide full - spectrum inflammation for your pet , which means it call for both UVA andUVB rays . These rays avail your snake bring forth vitamin D3 , which helps with calcium assimilation and brawniness contraction .
you could purchase full - spectrum lights from pet stores or on-line retailer . These bulbs hail in many size of it and wattages ; opt one that provides a sufficient amount of light for your snake ’s natural enclosure but does n’t overheat it when it ’s release on for long period of time .
Substrate
Hognose snake in the grass are well known for tunnel beneath the surface soil . Your opt substrate should encourage this instinctive behavior . They should have at least 5 inch of substrate to burrow . you’re able to purchase a pre - packaged mixture of topsoil and George Sand or make your own . If you make your own , more or less 70 % of the mixture should be untreated topsoil with the remainder consisting of swordplay sand . The mixture should be wry before placing your snake in the grass in the terrarium .
Aspen shavings are also extremely popular , especially for western hognose snakes . deepen your snake ’s bedding at least every 7 to 14 days . sluttish bedding options , such as appropriate wood shaving , let your hognose to burrow down and hide in the substratum .
Diet and Water for Hognoses
Hognose snakes most commonly consume frogs and toads in their aboriginal habitat . In captivity , they can consume glacial mouse . Live black eye can cause serious harm and should be annul , if possible . If your hognose refuses to feed , they in all probability call for you to stimulate their fair game driveway . Use a longsighted set of forceps or pair of tongs , and titter their thawed mouse or rat dinner to copy cause .
Provide fresh , neat water in a shallow , heavy sports stadium designed for role with snakes . ensure you change this water on a regular basis , and top up their pipe bowl as necessary .
Difficulty Feeding
Hognose snakes can be difficult to run and may take several days to eat their first meal . They do best on mice or small lowlife , but a good formula of thumb is that if the mouse is big than the Snake River ’s head , it will not conform to into its mouth . The Snake River will utilise its tongue like a sweetener to attract prey , then light upon when the animate being have close enough .
One of the biggest challenge with keeping a hognose serpent as an exotic pet is get them to wipe out systematically enough so that their nutrition need are met .
Health Concerns
The following are health concerns associated with hognose snakes :
You may notice your hognose snake slow down from November through February as it undertake to brumate - exchangeable to hibernation . Remain observing of your ophidian to control they are healthy during this time point , but hear not to raise up them or deal them .
Finding a Hognose Snake
These snakes are not normally find in pet store because they are difficult to multiply in immurement . However , you’re able to oft find them at reptilian shows or for sale by reptilian enthusiasts and breeder . you may expect to pay between $ 100 and $ 500 for a Hognose serpent depending on their historic period and mintage . You may be able to detect better price if you find a reptile fancier near you or you serve areptile expo .
Is the Hognose Snake for You?
Before buy a Hognose snake , shape which species good suits your lifestyle . Some live longer than others . require yourself if you ’re seek for a lower meter commitment or if you ’re fain to worry for a snake up to 20 years . If you are looking for a snake that is dissimilar from the residuum and does n’t require a pregnant amount of attention , then this may be the veracious choice for you .
