At this past weekend's meeting of the Va Herp Society, I picked up a circular by Joseph Mitchell, "Cannibalism in Reptiles: A Worldwide Review" at the auction. Although it was published 20 yrs ago, it was the first thorough review of the literature on the subject.



Although I was certain I'd find a report on Heterodon in there, there wasn't a mention of them. But I did find some info that has a lot of relevance to hogs.



Mitchell spent some time discussing the differences between observations of cannibalism of snakes in the field and in captivity.

Field = 60

Captivity = 106



No other order had more observations in captivity than in the field.



I think this clearly highlights a question that frequently comes up on this forum. Although there is positively some value of keeping snakes together for enrichment, it should not be a permanent arrangement. Many instances of cannibalism have been reported on this forum over the years, and it should be clear that keeping two of ANY snake together is a huge, and unnecessary, risk. Hogs have very strong feeding responses and don't discriminate against (potential) food items once the response is elicited and the item is in its mouth. Mitchell states that a lot of cannibal events are from 2 snakes eating the same food item at the same time, and the larger snake simply overtaking the smaller. I have experienced this in captive Northern watersnakes, and have seen it even in neonate rough green snakes.



Certainly, many people have kept snakes together without any problems, but just because I have driven 13yrs without an accident doesn't there weren't plenty of close calls and that I am somehow immune to such an event. The laws of probabilities will catch up even to the most attentive owner.



I want to encourage all of you recommend to future posters that keeping hogs together is an unnecessary risk. One's concern for an animal's health should supersede any amount of inconvenience or reasonable financial constraints.
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Virginia Herping

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"The irrational fear of snakes is the only excuse a grown man has... to act like a complete sissy" - Colchicine

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