Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, i'm still doing a little research while i'm looking for my first hogs.

have you all ever been bit before? if so, what were the effects? i figure there are people on here who have kept and bred them for quite awhile, so someone has to have gotten nailed ocasionally :0)

jonathan

I've been bitten by my Madagascar giant hog and easterns on several occasions, all of which were overzealous feeding responses.The only reaction I had was redness and itching at the site of the bite. Jeff

that doesn't sound too bad. thanks.

still looking for some more experiences please...

jonathan

In my experience hognose snakes don't bite defensively. I've been 'nailed' defensively by every type of snake I've ever kept, except for hognose snakes, and I've kept and handled far more hognose snakes than any other. Has anyone been bitten by a hognose snake that didn't think it was being fed?

I have now witnessed the affects of hognose bites on four different people (including myself), and reactions varied drastically. First let me say that each bite was a feeding response and could have been prevented had each person been paying more attention (again, including myself).

When I was bitten, I was released in less than a minute and suffered only minor redness and itching that lasted maybe 10 minutes.

The next bite I saw was fairly similar with a slight bit of swelling around the site of the bite. Itching and redness present. Everything cleared up in about an hour.

The next person had a hognose attached for about 2 minutes and ended up with slight swelling on the finger that was bitten and the 2 surrounding fingers. Swelling was gone by the next morning.

The fourth person ( who is also very severely allergic to bees and other insect stings) was unable to get the hognose off of her finger for just over five minutes. She had swelling throughout her entire hand and up into her wrist. She experienced alot of pain in the swollen area (obviously, swollen tissue is not very comfortable), and the swelling did not completely dissipate until about 5 days later.

We all still work with hognoses, and wouldn't have it any other way. The person who had the really bad reaction now uses gloves when opening her snakes cages.
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2.2 Western Hogs
1.0 Thayers king
0.1 African egg eater (Dasypeltis scabra)
1.1 Viper boa (Candoia aspera)
1 Savannah Monitor
2 Leopard Geckos
1 Sulcatta
1 Pancake Tortoise
2 dogs
1 cat
1 Husband

actually, i was more looking for the effects as opposed to the reason. i understand that they usually bite as a feeding mishap.

rptlqueen, that is kind of what i was looking for. thanks to the other responses also :0) i had heard that their venom was mild, but i was wondering how mild and if it varied with different people. according to your info, it does. the one with the worst reaction still didn't seem to be in too serious of a condition though. swelling and discomfort in a worst case scenario doesn't seem too bad.

thanks for the info. still welcome any more input...

jonathan

herper79, that was some good info. it was only one persons bite and reaction, but very informative, especially with the photos.i suppose that could be considered a medium reaction. i've heard some being much more mild and a few worse. thanks for sharing.

p.s. gave me an idea. i'm going to take pictures if i ever get nailed by anything venomous. i got nailed in the hand by a stingray once. in just a couple minutes i had pain shooting all the way to my armpit. it literally had me wimpering, and i can take some pain. kept fishing though :0) after about 2 hrs the pain alleviated, but the swelling remained for a week or so. i could've had my own site on stingray stings :0) pictures and all. anyway....

thanks again..