Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a quick question.
I had westerns for YEARS, then I moved from AZ to MO and placed all my critters with friends in AZ.
At that time I had 0.0 children, now I have 0.1 20 mos old daughters!
I am just curious about anyones personal experience with hogs and their (or any one elses) children.
Obviously I would NEVER let a child rough house an animal!
My little girl "plays" with backyard inverts, frogs and snakes all the time, and never harms them. 2 weeks ago she handled a preying mantis for 20 minutes and never so much as missplaced a wing before releasing it unharmed.
All this to say, do you think I should concern myself with her getting bitten by a hognose, and forego allowing her to handle it. Or do you all think that there is really nothing to worry about.
I rescued a lined snake from a neighbors glue trap and she occasionaly handles it, but it is extremely "whippy" and loves to musk!

Thanks for the input, and like I said...I would ALWAYS keep the animals well being in mind, so please no replies about me endangering the snake!

First, this just has to be said... what an ADORABLE little girl! Second, I would not hesitate to let her hold a Western Hognose (or any Heterodon for that matter) under your supervision. This could be a wonderful introduction for her into the world of snakes. The first snake I ever got to hold was an Eastern Hognose at a wildlife refuge center when I was in the third grade and now I am hooked for life! Just make sure she washes those little hands before and after.

Jennifer

She is a riot, she wants to hold everything! she has held some other herps, and frogs, and only does so under CLOSE supervision.

I just need to teach her that she doesn't need to KISS every critter that she holds!

Thanks again for all the good advice! I should be getting the new addition within a few weeks.
I'll post some picts after he settles in!

Hognose are no threat as long as the children have no frog smell on them. I think hogs are ideal for children otherwise. We use a male Western for kindergarten outreach programs because its small size and very calm nature is less threatening to the kids.
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"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"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)

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

^ That's actually a Dan Quayle quote.
Go look up some more Dan Quayle quotes if you want.... he's really brilliant. Glad he's part of our country's system. Yay!
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purrhisswoofmeowblubsqueakneigh

Neither Bush or Quayle, but it is definitely a laughable quote. Shane

Thanks for the info, I got it second hand. It's a shame that someone would put Bush's name on it just to make him look bad. I'll remove now.
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"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"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)

"Thanks for the info, I got it second hand. It's a shame that someone would put Bush's name on it just to make him look bad. I'll remove now."

Very commendable.

I use a male eastern hognose in my education programs. It is the calmest snake I use (corns, greybands, california kings, balls are the other types). I have no problem having kids touch and sometimes handle him, as he has never shown any aggression in 4 years of using him around kids.

I would base it on the feeding response of the individual Hog. One of the three I have I would have no problem with children handling - the other two would require close supervision.

problems but Ive always supervised..I did have an incident with him and his corn though. I left the room for just a minute and he tried to put his cornsnake in its tank and he must have accidentally pinched her or something because she bit him(and she is very tame). He was fine just scared and had a little mark on his hand and needless to say I never leave him alone at all now with a snake..BTW I do always make sure he washes or uses purell on his hands before he holds any of the snakes as I can never be sure if the snakes may smellsomething on his hands and decide he smells like lunch....hth
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2.0 Ball Pythons (Titus and Hercules)
1.0 Western Hognose (Fuego)
1.1 cornsnakes (Asmodeus and Strawberry)
0.2 Bearded dragons (itchy and scratchy)
0.1 Rosehair T. (Jigglypuff)
1.0 dog BC..(Kippy)
2.1 cats (Thomas,Sunflower,Diablo(Boo))
0.0.1 Toad (squidward)

What a great picture. Your daughter is beautiful and you can just see her intense interest in that bug. I have no children and no plans for kids. One of the things that really got to me when my husband and I were considering children, was how many people made the statement to me that if I had a baby I'd have to get rid of ALL of my animals, except the cat. I would tell them that lots of people have snakes and lizards and ferrets AND children with no problem as long as they were responsible about it. They were horrified at the idea. Now mind you, these were all people who did not own any reptiles themselves. Don't know where I'm going with this, other than to say I think there is no problem mixing kids and reptiles.

I cannot comment on the safety issue with the Hogs. I do not know if a bite from a Hog is more dangerous to a child than an adult. Are there any documented cases of children being bit? The fact that most are calm and don't bite is to me not the issue. The issue is "what if" it did bite, what would be the risk? I apologize that I do not have an answer for you on that. I don't believe that question is being adressed for you and I think that's what you really need to know.

While I have no children of my own, I do alot of public demos, including demos for school groups and scout troops, and also help with our Herp Club's Kids Club, so many of my reptiles do interact with Kids on a regular basis.

As you can see from the below photos, Kids plus Reptiles = Smiles!

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Lyns Lair
WNY Herpetological Society

0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
2.0 Rats (Inky & Oy)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose (Wilbur)
1.0 Malagasy Giant Hognose (coming soon)
1.0 Yellow/Everglades Rat Snake (Pumpkin)
1.0 Russian Sand Boa (Fang)
0.1 Normal Corn Snake (Mysty)
1.0 Anery Corn Snake (Suezo)
0.0.3 Eastern Milk Snakes (Uno, Dos, Tres)
1.0 Ball Python (Slytherin)
2.0 Smooth Green Snakes (working on names)
1.0 Northern Water Snake (coming soon)
1.0 Taiwan Beauty (coming soon)
0.1 Golden Greek Tortoise (Sunshine)
0.2 Mississippi Mud Turtles (Squirt & Shyanne)
1.0 Green Iguana (Norbert)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Moose)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Dragon (Tiramasu)
0.1 Oustalets Chameleon (Cera) coming soon
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
2.0 Solomon Island Eyelash Frogs (Chompy & Gimli)
0.1 American Toad (Bump)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.5 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Mystique, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Twister)