Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I work at a museum where snakes and other reptiles are used for educational programs, sometimes gone most of the day for outreach. Within the last two weeks, I put a male hognose in with a female, which I believe is older(she has small cataracts in both eyes). To my surprise, they immediately acknowledged each other and mated. I had to leave them together overnight, because after several hours, he was not leaving. These snakes have not been exposed to seasonal factors. To my knowledge, the female has never been exposed to a male or laid eggs since at the museum(before my time). Can I expect anything to happen? I am not very familiar with snake reproduction, but can simply mating induce ovulation? What is the sperm storage capactity for hognoses? I want to have a realistic idea of what will happen. Also, I am concerned for the female. I need to know what to expect so I can take care of her accordingly. How would excessive handling affect her? She can be taken off of programs. I would appreciate any insight, this has been very interesting.

First things first! BE CAREFUL! Hognose snakes belong to the family (colubridae) and they do posses rear fangs with primative venome glands. The venom is not directly toxic to humans but could result in an allergict reaction if bitten. Because of their breeding behavior males and females tend to be more aggressive around this time. Many snakes will breed reguardless of their environmental factors and in your case this is what happened. Normally when females develope unfertilized eggs (in the abscence of a male) the eggs are merely re-absorbed by the snake and will never be seen! Now that copulation (or mating) has taken place you should expect new commers! Unfortunatly I am not too familiar with the hognose snakes specifically, but you should expect a relatively large clutch of eggs sometime within the next month. These eggs will take an additional 1 to 2 months to hatch. It is also normal for the females to stop eating entirely intil the eggs have hatched. Even so be sure to provide water! The male may still be used for show, but as for the female, consider her retired for the next year! Until she adequatly regains her normal eating habits and body weight after the eggs have hatched. Accessive handling will cause stress and could kill her via egg binding or other stress related problems! I am not sure of the sperm storage capactity for hognose snakes. Also remove the male from her cage imediatly! After mating, she will need to be left alone! Also provide a humidity box for her to build her nest in. One the eggs have been layed assume they are viable! Mold growth is normal, however, cracking or caving in indicates that a particular egg may be infirtal, but consider the rest of the clutch viable. I think I have answered most of your questions about the issue and apologive for not being able to offer more! I would deffinatly reccomend seeing a vet, because gravid oviporous females are at high risk for egg binding if you suspect she is an older snake! At this time her state of health must be in top condition. Also I would reccomend contacting a breeder who specializes in hognose snakes because they will be able to offer you far more help! I hope this helps though. Also on a side note, In my prevet-studies of reptiles I have never heard or even seen a snake with cataracs! I'm not even sure this is possible in snakes! I would reccomend having the animal examined for stuck eyecaps which look alot like cataracts in mammals! They are the result of poor shedding and often times too low of humidity! In the case of a stuck eyecap, the animals sheds normall but the eyecovering is retained! It is important to have these removed because if not, they trap bacteria and can cause serious infection! Anyway I hope this helps and good luck!