Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm just curious as to what the difference between dusty and Normal is..I can't really tell...and also what Het is. I'm not a breeder or anything yet, but I'm trying towards it...so can anyone give me some answers?? Or maybe a website that can tell me??

I'm just curious as to what the difference between dusty and Normal is..I can't really tell...

Dusty Hognose is a name that used to be applied to the eastern populations of the Western Hognose. They were known as Heterodon nasicus gloydi (the western hog or plains hog was Heterodon nasicus nasicus). As you pointed out, they look the same as regular Plains hogs. Several studies have shown that the eastern populations don't differ significantly from hogs throughout their range so the Dusty Hognose is no longer a valid taxonomic entity.

So the valid names for N. American Hognosed snakes are -
Eastern Hognosed Snake - Heterdon platirhinos
Western Hognosed Snake - Heterodon nasicus
Southern Hognosed Snake - Heterodon simus
Mexican Hognosed Snake - Heterodon kennerlyi

and also what Het is.

Het is short for heterozygous. Heterozygous is a term from Mendelian genetics which means that an organism carries a gene (allele) for the trait but doesn't express it (often called a "carrier".

So a hognose that is heterozygous for albinism carries the albino allele, but it looks normal because it also has a copy of the normal (functional) pigmentation allele.

There are hundreds of good websites that explain basic Mendelian inheritance. Try searching for a few and doing some reading. An entry level biology textbook would be even more helpful (and would not be putting forward incorrect information, unlike so many websites).
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Chris Harrison

Hey, thanks for the reply. hopefully I can get a few hogs..but I'm still unsure.
cali