Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What would this hog look like?I've had a Plains Western Hognose before.
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www.freewebs.com/herper/
0.0.1 Columbian Red tail Boa Constrictor
1.0.0 Ball Python(normal)
1.0.0 Crocodile Gecko
1.0.0 Mediterranean Gecko
2.0.0 African Fat tail Geckos(Striped and Banded Phase)
1.1.0 Leopard Geckos(1.0.0 Blizzard and 0.1.0 High-Yellow)
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko(Geico)
0.1.0 Crested Gecko(Buckskin Phase)
0.1.0 Western Painted Turtle
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Chinese Water Dragon(Louis)
0.1.0 Southern Brown Basilisk
1.0.0 Giant Green Iguana(Rex)
1.1.0 Green Anoles
0.1.0 German Short Hair Pointer(Brooke)
0.1.0 Tabby Cat(Trixie)

To be truly melanistic, a hog should have melanin obscuring all of its other pigments/patterns. This is the case with black eastern hogs like this one -

Some people would regard this hog (again an eastern) to be at least melanistic as well, although in this population, they never get any darker than this -

I have never heard of a melanistic western hog. I would expect a melanistic w. hog to be a solid dark brownish color, since their melanin appears more brown than black.

I have seen some really dirty looking hogs with a brownish wash (primarily what used to be called "gloydi" or dusty hognosed snakes), but they weren't particularly attractive.
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Chris Harrison

The melanstic western hogs live wildly in Canada.
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tarentolas@hotmail.com
www.freewebs.com/herper/
Snakes
0.0.1 Columbian Red tail Boa Constrictor
1.0.0 Ball Python(normal)
Turtles
0.1.0 Western Painted Turtle
Lizards
1.0.0 Crocodile Gecko
1.0.0 Mediterranean Gecko
2.0.0 African Fat tail Geckos(Striped and Banded Phase)
1.1.0 Leopard Geckos(1.0.0 Blizzard and 0.1.0 High-Yellow)
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko(Geico)
0.1.0 Crested Gecko(Buckskin Phase)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Chinese Water Dragon(Louis)
0.1.0 Southern Brown Basilisk
1.0.0 Giant Green Iguana(Rex)
0.1.0 Green Anoles
Mammals
0.1.0 German Short Hair Pointer(Brooke)
0.1.0 Tabby Cat(Trixie)

>>The melanstic western hogs live wildly in Canada.

Western Hogs barely make it into southern Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. And I have never heard about, read about, or seen a picture of a melanistic Western Hog. None of my books mentions that color morph either. Where did you hear about this? I would love to see one.

Eastern Hogs do get into Ontario, and there certainly are melanistic easterns in Ontario.

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Chris Harrison

I read it in a book about Canadian Herps.
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tarentolas@hotmail.com
www.freewebs.com/herper/
Snakes
0.0.1 Columbian Red tail Boa Constrictor
1.0.0 Ball Python(normal)
Turtles
0.1.0 Western Painted Turtle
Lizards
1.0.0 Crocodile Gecko
1.0.0 Mediterranean Gecko
2.0.0 African Fat tail Geckos(Striped and Banded Phase)
1.1.0 Leopard Geckos(1.0.0 Blizzard and 0.1.0 High-Yellow)
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko(Geico)
0.1.0 Crested Gecko(Buckskin Phase)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Chinese Water Dragon(Louis)
0.1.0 Southern Brown Basilisk
1.0.0 Giant Green Iguana(Rex)
0.1.0 Green Anoles
Mammals
0.1.0 German Short Hair Pointer(Brooke)
0.1.0 Tabby Cat(Trixie)

I have Canadian Hognoses, and know individuals who study them in Alberta and Saskatchewan. To date, I am not aware of a melanistic form from north of the border, nor have any of mine ever thrown black babies. Where did you acquire such information?

Bart Bruno

I can assure you there isn't any published literature on melanism in Westerns, there are so few in Easterns now as it is. I have a study done on Canadian hognoses at home that I should probably check out, though. I'll report back.
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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)

Here is the paper I was speaking of, it has some great personal communications from our own infrequent forum visitor John Meltzer!

In the short description of H. nasicus, it does not mention any black specimens. I would encourage Tarentola to get up with a local herpetologist to examine the colors of your local hognoses, as it certainly would be worthy of a publication in Herp Review.
click here for the link

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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)

People don't study western hogs hard enough in Manitoba.They say they are only found in Spruce Woods Provincal Park where they feed on the Northern Prairie Skinks but I live 300km from Spruce wood and I find them around my house,And I found one 10 minutes away from the Capital City of Manitoba.I found one hog in spruce woods that was almost all black.I will get a picture of a melansic hog this summer.

They do exist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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tarentolas@hotmail.com
www.freewebs.com/herper/
Snakes
0.0.1 Columbian Red tail Boa Constrictor
1.0.0 Ball Python(normal)
Turtles
0.1.0 Western Painted Turtle
Lizards
1.0.0 Crocodile Gecko
1.0.0 Mediterranean Gecko
2.0.0 African Fat tail Geckos(Striped and Banded Phase)
1.1.0 Leopard Geckos(1.0.0 Blizzard and 0.1.0 High-Yellow)
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko(Geico)
0.1.0 Crested Gecko(Buckskin Phase)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Chinese Water Dragon(Louis)
0.1.0 Southern Brown Basilisk
1.0.0 Giant Green Iguana(Rex)
0.1.0 Green Anoles
Mammals
0.1.0 German Short Hair Pointer(Brooke)
0.1.0 Tabby Cat(Trixie)

People don't study western hogs hard enough in Manitoba.They say they are only found in Spruce Woods Provincal Park where they feed on the Northern Prairie Skinks but I live 300km from Spruce wood and I find them around my house,And I found one 10 minutes away from the Capital City of Manitoba.I found one hog in spruce woods that was almost all black.I will get a picture of a melansic hog this summer.

They do exist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I am positve of it
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tarentolas@hotmail.com
www.freewebs.com/herper/
Snakes
0.0.1 Columbian Red tail Boa Constrictor
1.0.0 Ball Python(normal)
Turtles
0.1.0 Western Painted Turtle
Lizards
1.0.0 Crocodile Gecko
1.0.0 Mediterranean Gecko
2.0.0 African Fat tail Geckos(Striped and Banded Phase)
1.1.0 Leopard Geckos(1.0.0 Blizzard and 0.1.0 High-Yellow)
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko(Geico)
0.1.0 Crested Gecko(Buckskin Phase)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Chinese Water Dragon(Louis)
0.1.0 Southern Brown Basilisk
1.0.0 Giant Green Iguana(Rex)
0.1.0 Green Anoles
Mammals
0.1.0 German Short Hair Pointer(Brooke)
0.1.0 Tabby Cat(Trixie)

I hope you understand when I say that this is worthy of publication, not only for the coloration but the range extension you spoke of. The purpose of publishing is not to see your name in print, but to communicate with others in the field. Your observations would obviously do us a lot of good for our understanding of the species if something were published on these snakes in your area.
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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)