Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of baby Western Hognose Snakes
When can start breeding?

If they are babies, then roughly 2 years.
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Jenea
Guardian Reptiles

"When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you're headed for the grave" Author unknown

Size is the biggest determining factor...
300grams for a female, 65-75grams for a male!!
ExtremeHogs.com

You can get away with a female being in the 200g range without any problems. Of course bigger is better but age may play a part in it as well. If the female is 3 yr old and she is healthy then breeding her should not be a problem.
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Louie

Breeding a female western hog at 200grams is a great way to ruin the animal. Out of the hundreds I have collected in the wild( many of which were gravid) and a very large collection of westerns I have today, few do well compared to animals that are heavier( to me a 200g female who lays 10 eggs is not doing well). Age is almost meaningless and I have proven mass breeding results that back that claim, I have hogs that have bred at 9 months and some that bred at 4 years.. the predominant factor in all my breeders is weight, the ones that bred 300g or smaller lay an average of 6-15 eggs the ones that were 350 lay 15-25 eggs per clutch on average. They also rebound there weight easily and usually double clutch without missing a beat. The ones that I have bred that are smaller, lay smaller clutches, and can become stumped growth wise and all in all they have MANY more problems from retained eggs to loss of feeding response. These issues are almost non existant in my larger breeders. Basically this is common sense and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to get this, the bigger the breeder generally the better the results due to the animal having larger resources to draw from internally, this also lessens the negative impact of breeding etc..so natuarally most do better if there larger.
This year I produceds hundreds of hogs from Extreme Red Albino's to normal hets from various lines.
Best Regards,
Justin Mitcham
ExtremeHogs.com

I wasn't arguing your point. I did say bigger is better. I don't think you will ruin your animal by breeding it at 200g though. I don't mass breed though so double clutching is not as important to me as the health of the animal. Like I said if the animal is healthy problems should not arise.
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Louie

I have to agree with Louie. Snakes like humans are different sizes, I have several fully grown females that top out at around 200 grams. I don't expect them to lay 30 eggs when bred, I don't breed them unless they will have plenty of time to build up their strength before cool down. They both have given me a small clutch of healthy eggs for the past 2 years.

I'm not sure that double clutching doesn't do more damage to females than breeding them a little smaller. I would be interested in learning if hognose snakes have a shorter life after being double clutched on a regular basis. I know that has been proven true in several other types of reptiles.

Justin you may want to change the care sheet info on your site also since it states that females should be 250 grams.

LOL Hoochipucker..your argument makes no sense..250g was stated as a bare minimum..which it is , 300 is better which I will add per your suggestion.

Double clutching is natural(I like to see the article or study you are referring to that PROVES it is unnatural and unhealthy, can you please quote your source)..snakes wouldn't of developed the ability to double clutch or retain sperm if they couldn't for the most part do it successfully. Only snakes with poor weight or health are affected negativly by double clutching, if people bred properly sized animals they would have few problems doing this, this is common sense.
If you had much experience breeding westerns you would have noticed that most large females double clutch wether you breed them a second time or not. I have bred over 30 species and subspecies of turtles,lizards, geckos, snakes etc.. and have found that weight is the BIGGEST determining factor in most reptile reproduction(there are exceptions). This is why year after year I have 90-100% success rate no matter what I breed. I know of no-one who has been as successful at raising and breeding hogs as I have been. Not trying to brag, but in the end my success proves if I am right or wrong doesn't it!!..and to date my success has been Extreme.
I am averageing 6-9 months before breeding on males and 12-18 month for females. The clutches are massive, the fertility is virtually 100% even my double clutches have 80-100% fertility and almost all my females have reached or exceeded pre egg laying weights only weeks after laying. I have not lost any females due to this and only have lost one female to date due to old age. I HAVE NEVER had a female egg bind over 300g!! So tell me what I am doing wrong and how wrong my expriences have been and how you get better results. I am open to others experiences , but results don't lie and I prefer them to words.
This forum is full of bad advice from breeders/hobbyist who have no real experience. Some have raised and bred a few hogs and they feel they are now experts. But try breeding and rearing hundreds of hogs and perhaps you will learn a thing or two..
But like I said in the end my success will be proven by my results not my words..and to date my results have been spectacular.
Sorry if I hurt anyones feelings but this mis-information needs to stop.
Best Regards,
Justin Mitcham
ExtremeHogs.com

Sounds like the only feelings that are hurt are yours, oh great one! I'm sorry any of us doubted you ever! We should only listen to your results and no one else's. Maybe we can luck out and acquire Extreme success as well.
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Louie

Louie..there's good info and then there's bad info..most of what I see posted here is bad info.. your post including!! Trolling a forum doesn't give your point of view any credence just space to post.
Telling someone 200grams is ok to breed at is bad info..
Telling someone to wait a week or two to try feeding hogs is bad info, they shed almost immediatly, and baby hogs have high metabolisms, I get 50-60% feeding on unscented within a week of hatch and the rest usally within 2-3 weeks.Why wait..the thinner the better??LOL? Or is it some baseless crude like the longer they go the hungrier they get..and weaker..so after two weeks and the hatchling didn't eat for you what have you gained?? Nothing the hatchling now has less stamina and time to feed in ...thats it!!
These are just two recent example of you giving bad advice to people on this forum. I am not here to get into it with you Louie, your probably a nice guy and enjoy helping people that's why you post here..but these kind of post are not very helpful. Sorry!
Link

I don't want to get into it either Justin. You have some great accomplishments and did a wonderful job promoting your Extreme hogs. However, you feel you are superior than anybody else here and that what you say is law. If I said wait a week or two to try feeding then I would agree that would not be the best advise. Most start eating within a week or two so I must have misread, miswrote or whatever(I'm not making excuses). I still did not disagree with you that bigger is better. But like I said you are king and we should all just listen to your advise and no one else's.
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Louie