Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay...u see...before i was contemplating about a kenyan or a rosy boa...since they seem like nice pretty docile snakes that don't get too large and are pretty good eaters...also great novice snakes...but then i saw the face of a hog...and i was completely obsessed...okay...now i know this is the hognose snake forum...and therefore is a biased forum...which of course is nothing wrong with it...now...i want the pros...and cons...if there are...and if there even are the slightest cons..please add them...now im gonna narrow it down for u so u guys don't tell me about how easterns and southerns sometimes always require mice...I AM GETTING A WESTERN HOGNOSE SNAKE...yes the common ones....i know for a fact that it is 3 months old...and has been eating LIVE unscented pinkies for those 3 months without rejecting a meal..however the owner of the herp shop says he doesn't handle that much...but says that they are fairly docile snakes...i know that their "venom" (which techincally isn't venom since there are no venom glands connect to the fangs) is harmless to humans....and that despite they don't have venom glans that they ahve parotid glands...now what i want to know mainly is their hardiness...like husbandry require ments...docility...and feeding...im not really going into breeding yet...now if they go on hunger strikes...or don't feed in certain times...please tell me so...and remember im gonna get a baby...so if fasting during winter months for babies are normal...please say so...if not...also include that...i know this is very demanding...but im sure hogs have captured ur hearts too...and i want to take part in that joy ...please be as tedious and as lengthy and detailed...even include useless things about hogs...i will read and look into it...i garantee it...haha...if u feel like typing up a whole caresheet for me...be my guest...plz don't copy and paste caresheets found on google.com...cuz trust me...ive read and reread everything about hog care...but they only tell u to "get a captive bred feeding on mice"...well...thats still kinda general...cuz theres prekilled...scented..unscented...f/t...and i just want to know from people that have kept hogs long enough ...and some secrets or tips on hog care...i know this is ridiculously long request...but im really narrowing it down the kenyans rosies and hogs...if u think that the kenyan or rosy is better...plz tell me too...i will respect ur input !! thank you all for your time.!!

-eric chen

oops typo...part about southerns and easterns always require scented mice or frogs...

Well, they're exactly like Kenyans except... ummm.... well....
ok, you got me, I keep them exactly the same except 5 or 10 degrees cooler. They even go off feed at the same time of year. However, unlike a Kenyan they won't bite except in a misdirected feeding response. (but a Kenyan doesn't have those troublesome Duvernoy's glands)
Although I must warn that you should not fall in love with smush nosed snakes, because like me you will be chasing Lystrophis, Leioheterodon, and dare I say it, even Causus and Aspidelaps. Mmmmm.... toad eaters.... But what of my forbidden love for my pet toad Luigi?
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

wow...meretseger...u are definitely incredible...u(both of u) are incredible...u guys are everywhere...hehehe...and hey an unbiased decision cuz u guys are kenyan lovers....ya...i tend to have something with smush nosed snakes...i want a kenyan...i want a hognose...i had a bulldog...and currently have a boxer...hahaha...the "uglier" the better...

have u had feeding problems with ur hog?

Back when we very first got him, he stopped eating and we had to toad scent a pinkie a few times. Ever since then he's been fine except he doesn't eat so great in the winter now that he's an adult. That goes for a lot of snakes though. He still eats like every three weeks though.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

compared to most people on here i am a novice snake keeper but i did tons of research on them before getting one. I've had a male western since christmas and its been about the easiest snake to take care of. He did go on one feeding strike for about a month and half, but i just kept trying different things and he finally ate. since then he takes about 2 pinkies (dead, unscented) a week without a problem. sometime i can get him to eat them in a different feeding container but sometimes i have to put a piece of cardboard under his hide in his tank with the pinkie on top so he can eat it unstressed. It works every time and the chances of him eating substrate is small. I say go for it. i think most snakes are easy to care for and even if hogs can be a little more difficult they still aren't too bad. The only possible negative is that they hide a lot or stay burried, but if your alternative was a rosy or sand boa then this doesn't seem to matter. my snake is actually more active than my kings and comes about about 4 times a day for an hour or two. Real comfortable with handling and has only hissed at me and struck at me once but that was my fault.

Mine cops a bit of an attitude- he hisses at me constantly but he forgets to be mad at me once I get him out of his tank.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

I was like you....I saw one and I HAD to have one! I was hooked immediately I did some research and figured I wouldn;t have too much trouble since I have some experience with different snakes, and so far my little '03 girl has been great. She eats unscented F/T as long as I put her in the feeding box with it and leave her alone for a while, and just the other day was the first threat display I've seen from her--hadn't handled her in a couple days...but of course it was adorable, her puffing out and hissing as she was trying to hide under her aspen shavings, and she was fine once I picked her up. I have her in a small sterilite box with deep aspen and a water dish, and she likes to make trails in the shavings. I keep a human heating pad under one end so she can choose what temperature she wants, and she seems to like 75-ish for the most part but will lie on the edge of the pad when digesting. I found her by e-mailing people from the breeders section to see if they had babies available. Shipping wasn't cheap but I went with Delta DASH (Jim was an approved shipper) and wouldn't do it any other way as it's cold and I'm in NY. I definitely plan to get a male at some later point and breed them...would looove a red one, but at the moment she's only 9in so we have a while yet I love her to death and though she has a very different personality from my king, she's still just as awesome and that little face is impossible to resist. Good Luck!
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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 (Flash)

well..heres my little girl...haven't seen a threat display yet...oh..and how many pinkies do u feed yours?...mine is like 6 months old...

Mine eats two fuzzies. He's a Mr. Hognose now. They're pretty stretchy so one big pinkie or two small pinkies probably wouldn't hurt.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

ya...im starting to feed two every week...they seriously are stretchy..and they hide their meal well..i mean...i fed mine..and before you know it...u would never know it ate....kinda weird...i could hardly see a bulge...so fed it another...and same thing...it was gone in a second..and shes still acting like it was just appetizers...i should feed her a golf ball to see exactly how stretchy she is... jk...

Eh, don't be fooled--they DO have real venom glands, and they produce real venom. It isn't a highly toxic venom, but it's real enough. Those glands are not connected to their fangs, but some folks have suffered various reactions to it.

The biggest danger is an allergy...if you're allergic to bee stings, probably not a good idea to mess with snakes that have Duvernoy's glands.
But after a hog has chewed on them for a while, a few people have reported symptoms of mild envenomation. So...don't let your hog chew on you.

ehhh...but the duvernoys glands aren't connected to the fang itself..i thoguth the toxin is just mixed in with the saliva...unless most of my research sources were incorrect...O.o...and no im not allergic to bee stings....

I don't know how it works, but it's the same hookup that boomslangs have, just a different toxicity. I'm just always nervous that I'll be the .001% of the population that reacts to something, which makes me wary around tarantulas. I tend to have slightly worse than average reactions to insect venoms, which doesn't help me feel better.

BUT I handle my hognose like a non-hot. Because he will NOT bite in defense, like almost all Westerns. If there were a chance of him landing a hit on me I'd be a little more reserved with him, including not using him to scare the dog.

Except when I'm pretending he's an Aspidelaps.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

lol...italian greyhounds are shy as they are...hahaha ur gonna seriously ahve a traumitized doggy ...how does the hog scare it?...threat display?

My dog isn't an average iggy... you just sort of have to meet her. She usually does great with people unless they are carrying duffel bags or umbrellas.
However, she is very easily wierded out by small moving animals, so I wait until she's settled in on the bed and let the hog crawl near her (the hog doesn't react to the dog in any fasion). First, she looks away, because she thinks that if she can't see it it can't see her. Then if it touches her she scootches a few inches because she doesn't want to get out of the bed. It's pretty comical, and if we don't annoy the dog every so often she gets this big ego thing going.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

hahahhaha that happens to my boxer sometimes...well not when i let little crawly things get near her...cuz she'll most definitely kill it...sometimes...i tell her to sit or go home...she'll look away...and then when i walk nearer...she'll totally face the other side...hehe....dogs are quite intersting animals too...i actually wanted an iggy before...but i like to rough it with my dog...and i would probably accidentally break an iggys leg or something...as they are very dainty animals...but extremely cute

If you can get an iggy with larger parents (10 lb ), you can be sort of rough with them in a careful manner. But not until they're 8 months old. But we can play tug of war and throw the dog on the couch and hey! where's your bone? with impunity.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

hehe...ic...after keeping herps..sometimes i forget about the good qualities of dogs...haha

There are dogs with good qualities? I gotta get me some of that!
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

of course dogs have good qualities...their poo is bigger...provides hours of entertainment to clean up...urine is smellier...great alternative to coffee...equally aromatic...they are noisier...reminding you that we should we grateful cuz we can hear...they eat more..well..actually that might truly be a good quality...a 50 lb bag of dog food only costs like 12 bux..and will last a while...12 bux will get me 6 feedings for my hog...jk...i love my dog...shes..."adorable"...one of those characteristics that only a owner could love...all that drooling and that smushed face...absolutely gorgeous...

You are paying too much for your mice! 'Course, everything might just be more expensive where you are. I can get pinkies for .33$.
'Course, at .50$ a pound, the dog food is still cheaper.
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

33 cents?!?!?! do u get them online...or local pickup at a pet shop or something...cuz hell...its costing me a arm and a leg...well actually..my parents arms and legs....i don't wanna order online cuz i only ahve one snake and shes gonna change to fuzzies soon...and minimum order is usually like 100 pinks...which i will take forever to finish and by the time i get to the 100th they are probably badly freezer burned and stuff...rodentpro.com was my original choice...i don't know though...