Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all –

I made a stab at searching the new forum for this information, but got irritated at all the extraneous posts returned, so I gave up there. Hope you all can help. My questions are:

Does anyone know what some longevity records are for the southern hognose, Heterodon simus? I see only one listing of 8 years 9 months in Slavens online. Surely, people have maintained them for a lot longer now. In addition, what do you feel would be a “typical” life span in captivity - not necessarily a record length?

I have a captive-bred, male simus that is only 11 years old but now has cataracts in both eyes. Granted, the condition could be the result of something other than the aging process. Has anyone else seen cataracts in any species of hognose? Or, for that matter, other snakes? One of my male ball pythons that turns 20 years old next month has a cataract in one eye, also.

Thanks,
Joan

I can only make a comment about the cataracts. I have an Eastern hognose in the collection I maintain that is at least 10 years old. It currently has a cataract in its left eye.
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