Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My fiance and i are planning on going to tenneesee for our honeymoon...to visit his dad and to go herping. I was thinking of possibly returning with an eastern hog if i found one. I love these little guys and i really dig the fact that their hoods make their heads look rediculously huge. I have a pair of easterns that i adore.
My problem is that i live in the north east, where hoggies dont live. I would love to bring a hoggie home, but i am very worried about the feed strikes that these guys tend to go throght. I also wont have a constant supply of toads available. My thought is that i could bring a toad home too (and of corse give it a great home too!) to scent the mice. I could get anolis if need be for feeders, though. If the hoggie i bring home doesnt eat, i wont be able to release it into the wild again. are there any thoughts as to what i shoudl do? Should i leave well enough alone and not bother with bringign a new wc hoggie home, or should i bring one back with me and take my chances? I have a very wide knowladge of herps, and i would do my best to replicate its environment im my own house, not just stick him on paper towels and give him a heat pad. I dont know, i am very torn on this. If i do happen upon one i would LOVE to keep another hoggie species. Opinions would be appreciated bunches. thanks.
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"i wasn't born with enough middle fingers"

1.0 ball python- Azazel
1.0 columbian boa- Brooklyn
1.0 JCP-Milton
1.0 red blood python-Hiss
1.0 peach phase thayeri-Sancho
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
1.1 hognose- Pricilla and Odd
0.1 russian tortoise- Manja
0.1.1 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
1.4 ratties Rizzo, Bree, Blitzkreig, Raisin, and the Runt (R.I.P. Willard. )

You could buy a cb eastern that eats mice. Not quite as fun as finding one yourself but less hassle in the long run.

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
16 eggs incubating
7 balls
2.2 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, normal)
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
2 fish
1 rat
1 mouse
5 cats

Agreed. WC easterns often make poor captives for the average herper. Many die from stress, many refuse to eat (many refuse mice, some even refuse toads/frogs), etc. Some do great, others do horribly. Some do fine for a while and then just die quite randomly. If you do find one, which for many people is easier said than done, you are better off taking pictures and releasing it.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: thekingofproduct
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

And the sign says "No long hair freaky people need not apply." So I put my hair under my hat and I went in to ask him why. He said you look like a fine outstanding young man I think you'll do. So I took off my hat I said "Imagine that Huh Me working for you."-Tesla

I personally have a big problem with taking a healthy animal out the wild when it has a suitable habitat. How do you justify taking a WC when CB are available? Certainly look for them and take photos, but take the satisfaction in knowing that that snake has the opportunity to reproduce and make more Easterns!
By the way, keeping a live toad for scenting is the best way!
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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)