Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I have tried reading care sheets and various threads on this forum and using the search function, but I have not been able to find answers to what seem like straight forward questions.

A bit about my setup. I don't have one yet. I don't even have a hognose snake yet either. I am however not new to snake keeping. I have successfully kept corns, milks, a king, a couple of watersnakes, a ribbon snake, and a ball python.

I think every care sheet I have found regarding western hognoses says that a warm spot in the upper 80s or low 90s should be available, and that the cool side should be "room temperature". What temperature should the cool side be at?

I ask because I live I Florida and 85% of the time my home is around 80-82F during the day, and 74-76F at night. Sometimes it gets even cooler at night, but nothing below 68F. Given these ambient air temperatures, what sort of heating arrangement would you provide?
I found a Journal of Herpetology article that found free ranging wild eastern hognoses had a mean temperature of about 28C (82F). Any good reasons why I should't aim for that temperature in my gradient? Say 90F on one side, and 74F on the other? Maybe a slightly warmer cool side during the day?

Are there any serious dangers with keeping a female hognose in a 15 gal tank (24"x12"x12" )? What about a male? Would it be comfortable in that size of tank?

Any other worthwhile advice, such as:
They go off feed in the winter
They enjoy watching soap operas during the day
They can be picky eaters and offering someting other than a mouse may lead to a total conversion to the new prey item
They should have substrate to burrow though at all times
They don't like being called insulting names
They should be fed x% of their body weight while growing
An adult can comfortably be fed one adult mouse (25-30g) once a week as a maitenence diet
They have insecurities about being called "heavy-bodied" snakes
Don't mess around with heat lamps, UTH is the best way to go

Or you know, general advice about Heterodon nasicus

Welcome to hognoses, and I am happy to hear you are doing your homework before getting the snake! I'll try to touch on all your questions:

In my experience, I haven't found western hognoses to be so particular about their temps. I have had mine in a rack with ball pythons and kingsnakes and everyone was happy. I have a hot spot in the upper 80s. One thing I keep in mind is that the hotspot on top of the substrate isn't the temperature I'm trying to achieve, as below the substrate it is even warmer, and the snakes can burrow down to get to that temp if they want. This past year, the AC was set around 77 in summer and this winter the room is in the upper 70s to lower 80s. So I think your room temperature in your house will be fine. I would go with under tank heaters.

Males stay smaller than females, but either sex would be comfortable in a tank that size. If you get a hognose that is established on eating unscented mice, it will do well on that diet and there wouldn't be a need to offer other prey items. If you fed it a frog or something, it may continue eating mice, but it could be risky and not worth getting your snake used to eating an unaccessible prey item. They do enjoy burrowing, so 2 or more inches of substrate is appreciated. Some will go off food in the winter (a recent topic discussed a few points below) while others will not. Just like some snakes will eat in blue while others don't, they are all different. I'm not sure the % body weight they should eat while growing, and a maintenance diet will depend on the size of the adult. In my experience, snake will grow pretty slow if feed an item that doesn't make a lump in them or a small one once a week or so.

Hogs are a lot of fun and have the best personalities of all snakes I've kept so far. Husbandry is a little different for everyone, so you just have to start out with the basic guidelines and see what works for you! Good luck!

Ross Couvillon

Thank you.

So I have a 24" x 12" footprint tank with sliding top and lock. I have a UTH/cermaic tile on a rheostat. When the house was at 82F as per the digital thermometer next to the tank, the UTH on the inside was temped at 89F with an IR temp gun. When the house was closer to 72F the IR temp gun gave a reading of 85F. This should provide a good gradiant regardless of the house temp.

I'm now going to add dry substrate do a depth of about 2 inches and a couple of hides. All I need now is a water dish and a snake.

Sounds great, with an enclosure that large keep a good eye on the babe to make sure he's not overwhelmed with so much space. (If you get a 2012, that is. A 2011 will be right at home!)

Hogs have a lot of energy and my boys sometimes like to climb actually, if you want to offer your snake some LOW lying branches or something to climb on, and some nice hides on the cooler and warmer sides.

I'm sure you'll be getting a second soon enough. Good luck, they are the best snake in the world!

I guess what I was trying to say, is hognose will use something if you provide it, and don't hide or laze about like other species. They're really fun if you get creative with your enclosure. And routinely check your rheostat to make sure it hasn't changed somehow.

Yeah. I think it's a 2012 hatchling I was looking at. About 8" long. I have a small side, a pile of rocks, some old ceramic tiles scattered around, a couple of pieces of driftood, and a corner water dish. Plus, a soft fluffy substrate. I ended up going closer to 1" deep because 2" looked like it would be hard to locate the animal. If for some reason it seems overwhelming, I'll add more stuff or put in a divider.

As far as checking temps, I check temps a couple of times a week or more. With the IR temp gun, there is no excuse not to check because it is so easy.

A jungle gym fit for a hog, congrats