Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can you keep 2 hoggys togethere in a single tank?

>>can you keep 2 hoggys togethere in a single tank?

The answer is no. Want to know why? Try searching the archives for the answer.
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Chris Harrison

I've always wondered about that too. I've read on many sites that people keep their snakes together and even Hognose.com stated that some keepers have had great successes with keeping and breeding them together. I also searched the entire archive and only found a couple posts related to this topic. Most replies were that they CAN be cannibalistic and some eat their own tails, etc, but how many cases of these behaviors have actually been documented and not just hearsay?

I also didn't see any posts by anyone saying that a hog ate another hog...of course, that could be because 100% of the people here keep them separately, but I'm quite skeptical about that percentage. So how many out there have really had a BAD experience with keeping 2 hognoses together?

SO PUT THEM TOGETER WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE ?????

You didn't have to reply like that. I was simply asking for personal documentations of the consequences of keeping them together. I'm not denouncing the claims that they can be cannibalistic, I just want to know how many cases of this have been observed. I was being polite, I would appreciate an equal treatment.

is that I paid 75 bucks for my snake....no f'in way am I going to take ANY chances on her getting eaten. Really, why bother? snakes are basically solitary in the wild, just because we humans like having company doesn't mean they do. We project our emotions onto animals too much. There are a lot of posts in other forums about snakes eating others of the same species, even one recently with leopard geckos eating each other. who wants to play the odds??? It just isn't worth it. just because problems haven't occurred doesn't mean they won't tomorrow, or next week, or next year just as your best female is about to lay her first clutch....
that's my .02
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Sue

0.1 Western hognose (Sola)
1.0 Crested gecko (Gator)
0.1 Egyptian spiny mouse (Mia)
2.2 mini rex rabbits (Reggie, Hayden, Jackie and Peek-a-boo)
0.1 Plott hound (Molly)
0.1 'found in someone's garage' kitty (Terra)

1.0 Betta (Flash) and 1.0 FL kingsnake (Vega) currently living with boyfriend

>I also searched the entire archive and only found a couple posts related to this topic.

- No doubt that some of the posts that you referenced were started by me. Some of the information I rely on is from quite a few years ago, either Kingsnake does not have them available or you would have to manually search some of the older archives.

> Most replies were that they CAN be cannibalistic and some eat their own tails, etc, but how many cases of these behaviors have actually been documented and not just hearsay?

- Where exactly would we document this behavior? Especially since it is nothing that could be expected from these animals! I guess you'll just have to rely on people with encyclopedic knowledge to keep track of these things!!

> I also didn't see any posts by anyone saying that a hog ate another hog...of course, that could be because 100% of the people here keep them separately, but I'm quite skeptical about that percentage. So how many out there have really had a BAD experience with keeping 2 hognoses together?

- I remember a few years ago where there seemed to be a few people who insisted upon their bad experiences with hognoses. One in particular talked about a male and female he kept together for more than two years, and one day the female ate the male. Open and shut case there. I remember another person who stated that his hognose died a few days after biting his own tail. No necropsy was performed so no other conclusions about the cause of death could be drawn. This example does illustrate however, that hognoses sometimes have strong feeding responses and are very indiscriminate to what they latch on. Hognoses tend to "fish" for food by opening their mouths and swinging their heads from side to side. It does not matter if it finds another hognose or itself, it will latch on. In the confines of captivity, this problem certainly is compounded.

Ultimately what this issue boils down to is quality care. I would like to think that I'm not the only person in the herpetocultural world that aspires to providing the best possible captive husbandry to his pets. Putting a couple of snakes together just to wind up having one get eaten is not only completely preventable, but I think it is downright negligent. What is the justification for cohabitation when the risk for serious injury or death is a very real possibility? I have heard many people on these forums say that they don't have money or space for another tank. If you don't have the room to keep another animal the solution is simple, just don't get another animal. If you don't have the money, and how can you possibly pay for veterinary bills that ARE inevitable and for the veterinary care you are obligated to provide?

I just don't see how anyone can find it such an absolute necessity to keep hognoses together that they can justify the risks.
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
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)

Did you say you wanted documentation??

I just HAPPENED to come across this shortly after posting. I'm sure you will find this useful...

http://www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/fw/status/reports/hognose/cons.html#5

"Other prey items include frogs, salamanders, turtle eggs, lizards, small birds, rodents, and other snakes (especially garter snakes; Platt 1969, Pendlebury 1976, Russell and Bauer 1993). Pendlebury (1976) observed a captive Plains Hognose Snake from Alberta attempt to subdue a Western Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix haydeni) when both were placed in the same cage. A captive specimen from Montana, from an area adjacent to the Alberta border, was reported to exhibit a taste for hatchling Bullsnakes"
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
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)

Thank you for the informative response (that's the kind of reply I was hoping for).

I, myself, don't keep them together, I just needed the information. But again, thank you for your help and being polite.

Maybe I jumped the gun. The question does come up about once a month, but it is hard to find these cases in the archives because many times the subject is just "A Question" or "Newbie question about hogs".

I also didn't see any posts by anyone saying that a hog ate another hog...of course, that could be because 100% of the people here keep them separately, but I'm quite skeptical about that percentage. So how many out there have really had a BAD experience with keeping 2 hognoses together?

I have never had a bad experience and I have been keeping hogs for around 15 years. I generally don't keep them together now, but I have, for months/years at a time.

The real question is how many times would it have to happen before it would discourage you from doing it?
Would 1% be enough? What about 5%? 20%?

The point everyone is making is that it is a REAL risk. Snakes that have been kept together for years suddenly see their cagemate as a potential food item with no explanation.

I always keep mine separate now, even though it never happened to me.
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Chris Harrison