Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tell me what you think..
I researched the Temps from March to Sep for hognoses and cornsnakes ranges..I think you'll find this interesting..

Setting aside isolated northern populations in both species..

Cornsnakes had a mean temp in there range of 72-81 with an average of about 77'F

Hognoses had a mean temp in there range of 77-84 with an average of about 81'F

Neither species on average experienced lows lower than 60'F during these months

Hognose experience an average of 3-10'F higher summer temps(highs) than cornsnakes depending on location.

Hognose seemed to have more variation in temps due to range and habitat , at overall higher temps.

I got this info from a weather almanac selecting zip codes within several known major localities.

Now there is one major difference that needs to be accounted for..most of cornsnakes range falls in heavily forested areas with little light reaching the forest floor..so mean temps are probably cooler and/or day heating is slower.
Hogs tend to live in more open areas with more direct sunlight, higher surface and ground temps and those temps being higher longer.

Unless I missed something this is direct evidence that they need higher temps than what your average keeper keeps them at.
Now the temps I have are mean temps, (lows highs averaged)..
I think optimum temp is the highest averaged mean temp, so corns do best at 81-82 and hogs at 84-85...
ExtremeHogs.com

Justin,
I saw some things the last couple of years with wild Mexican Hogs that lead me to believe they DO like access to some hot temps. These observations were made at 4000' elevation where the average night time low is 65 during the _summer_.

I saw wild Hogs basking (sitting and soaking it up) on roads with a surface temp of up to 111°F.
I saw wild hogs on the road when the surface was over 111°F, but they were moving (not sitting - not basking).

Remember that most of these snakes have solid black (or nearly so) bellies.

Eastern Hognose here in Bexar county are quite different, often found about when air temps are in the 50's!

I think you have to look at each animal as a product of it's environment in order to understand how to best provide for that animal. In short, my captive Mexicans do much better with a (hotter) hot spot than my other colubrids.
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http://www.hcu-tx.org
http://www.kingsnake.com/mexicana/
http://www.joeforks.com

Justin,

This is interesting, but I don't think it is fair to lump Easterns, Southerns, Westerns, and Mexicans together. I think their habitat preferences and probably temperature preferences are different enough to warrant treating as the different species they are.

For example, I think Mexican hogs live in areas that are a lot hotter than other species and can be found active when daytime temps are in or above the mid 90s. That isn't true for Southerns in my experience and probably not easterns either.

Westerns on the other hand have a much higher tolerance for cold temperatures than any of the other species since they occur on the plains up into Canada.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas