Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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0.1 Columbian Boa
0.1 Spotted Python
and always looking for more!

Here is a link that someone posted earlier in thei forum. It shows the result of a bite from a male western.
Jim

www.herpnet.net/bite

holy cow!! guess I better never let my little girl get a chance to chew on me I'd never seen those pics, they're quite impressive.
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Sue Barnett
1.0 Florida King (Vega)
0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
4.2 mini rex rabbits (Basil, Pippin, Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
1.0 half Arab (Zarr)
1.0 Betta (to be named once he lives out the 7-day warrantee)

Wow!! Fantastic shots, with great follow up for that bite. He had quite the reaction to the venom, eh?
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1.1 Ball Python 0.0.1 corn snake 1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish 1.2 cats 3.1 kids 1.0 husband and now...
0.0.1 Pink Zebra Beauty Tarantula
2.0 Solomon Island Boas

Is that a normal reaction?!? I just bought one.. a pretty little female, year and a half old. She's tame and friendly, but after seeing those pics, i'm kinda worried- I assist in environmental educational programs with children and herps, and bought her with the intent of bringing her along. She was at one earlier this week and did great, but i'm worried now about her biting a child... better make a note to keep her away from food items at presentations!!

From what I hear, the guy in those pictures let the snake gnaw on his finger for some time so the snake was sure to get some venom into him. That is not a normal reaction. I know someone who takes hognose snakes to educational programs for children all the time. He doesn't have any problems with them. But the children should wash their hands before and after handling the animals - To make sure they don't have hands that smell like school fish sticks.
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James
My Web Page

Especially if the hog eats mice or rats. Never know what are in those cafateria lunches....
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

We use 5 hognoses, both W and E and we have had no problems. In fact the Education Dept uses the smaller male W for kindergarten classes and all the kids love him.
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...the oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Aldo Leopold (1938)

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)

I have been bitten by quite a few western and eastern hognose and I have never had anything besides a couple of puncture wounds to show for it. Of course, I never let one chew on my finger for 5 minutes either

Chris

Good to know... While a like to think I know quite a lot about herps, I have only really worked with them for about 4 years now, so there is much I do not know... What I do know, (from volunteering at a kid's museum) is that a child's parents can sometimes get nasty... I'd hate to have to deal with one if their kid had a reaction like that!! But after hearing what you guys with more experience than I have to say (as well as my boss the herpetologist), I won't worry. My hoggie is sweet as pie anyways But why did he let it chew for that long? The only snake i ever had latch on to me for that amount of time was a 12 foot burm... but i was actively trying to remove her!! Rites of passage into the world of herps I suppose..
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1.1 argentine b/w tegus
1.0 anery corn
0.1 western hog
0.1 leopard gecko
1.1 blue headed tree agama
0.0.1 ball python
0.0.1 western fox
And always looking for more!!

Just remember, a hog does not bite in defense. It bites as a feeding response. Despite some people claiming that they have been "almost" bitten by an agitated snake, hognose, even when huffing and puffing, are, at best, only acting. Hognose normally do not strike in these displays, but if they do, it is normally either close mouthed or they do not follow through with the strike. With many of the hognose I have found (and I have found tons), I could rub my hand against their mouth and not get them to bite. And these are snakes fresh out of the wild. They are not meant to be a speceis that will bite to scare away predators, but they achieve their safety from predators through their displays (puffing up, musking, hissing, ect.). As long as your hands do not smell like mice (or potentially anything that the hog could misconstrue as the smell of food), then the hognose should not bite. As for the bite looking like that, hognose have rearfangs. This means they must chew on the prey item to inject their venom (saliva). If you do not let a hognose chew on you, then effects should be minimal.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: SurfAndSkimTx04
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

Burgundy baby, With your blue eyed soul, You play the hits and I'm on that roll, Capricorn sister, Freddie Mercury, Jupiter Child cry

I'm reminded of the story of a fellow who had a hognose he used for educational displays, and he was telling everyone how hognosed snakes didn't bite...his snake promptly clamped onto his hand, for no apparent reason.
Hadn't happened before, nor since.

I think it also depends on how sensitive your immune system is. Like if you have an over active immune system then you are more likely to react badly to the bite.

Kind of like how some people swell up like a balloon if they are stung by a bee, but others don't even notice it.

You don't know how your body(or anyone else's) will react to the snakes venom, no matter how mild it is, there will be *someone* out there that reacts badly to it.

The reactions will range from "don't react" to "severe swelling" possibly more?
Like I said though, it's always best not to chance it, always be aware of where the snakes head is, and what kind of "mood" it is in when you pick it up.
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1.1 Ball Python, 0.1 motley amel corn, 1.0 western hognose