I believe what you are saying but I also believe it's their conditioning. The box opens and here comes the food. Let them settle down, pick them up, and they are usually quite calm. If they pick up the scent of food, the slightest scent, they may bite. I believe they are in feed mode as soon as you open their box. Those types of bites are quite different from defensive bites, the quick strike and bite. Defensive strikes would not involve latching on, working the jaws, and trying to swallow a finger.

It's obviously possible to get bit by a hognose but those bites are more related to feeding than to defending themselves.



I need no lesson in handling hogs. Some do have a strong feed response as you state. However, I am not talking about feed response bites. I am talking about clear defensive bites where threat displays have been put on right before. With that being said, a bite is a bite no matter what the trigger is.



Defensive bites can and do involve latching on. Usually the first reaction we as humans have is to grab the snake when it bites down or we are holding it at the time of the bite. If we have a grip around the snake during a defensive bite, it will not let go. More times than not, if you put the snake down on a flat surface and let go of it, the snake will let go of you right away. Bite and latch on is indeed part of their defensive behavior depending on the situation.

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