Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all let me introduce myself and my quiestion. I have kept numerous species of reptiles for a number of years, with the majority being boids of all descriptions. Im am not however overly familiar with hognose snakes,(H. nasicus specifically as it applies here). I have recently been contacted to provide a number of snakes for temporary display in a museum exhibit. In this exhibit they have a large intricate enclosure roughly equivelant to a 65gal. tank. In this enclosure the intent is to house a group of 1.3 western Hognoses snakes (male=~14", F#1=~15", F#2&3=~18".

Naturally my first concern is for the animals on display. But please keep in mind this is a large public display where visibility is an issue. With the cryptic nature of this species, that is the basis for the number of animals in the display. Lets please avoid the general husbandry discussion of communal keeping, as it outside of the scope of this question.

As I have noted that natural diet is often listed to include other snakes, has there been any documented or proven accounts of Canibalism between well established CBB specimins (all are eating pre-killed mice)? As this is my greatest concern for this display.

Thank you,
GD
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I don't believe in luck. Luck is God covering your a** when you screw up.

n/p
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I don't believe in luck. Luck is God covering your a** when you screw up.

There has been talk about this on here before. You could do a search but I cant remember how long ago it was. If I remember correctly there were a coule of stories of cannabilism, one that happened to a pair that had been together for a few years. It seems to not be very common but something that has happened and is worth considering. Hope that helped some, maybe others will have some more info for you.

EP
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Occupants not paying rent:
1.1.5 balls
2.1.8 corns(candy cane, creamsicle, ghost, 4 normal,
4 anery )
1 pueblan milk
1 everglades rat
1 cal. king
1 gray band king
1 w. hognose
1 bearded dragon
1 fish
1 mouse
3.3 cats

You raise an interesting question, with a peculiar problem. As a former curator, I can relate to you 100% with the demands from upper management and/or the very nature of an exhibit, with the needs and expectations for each individual kept in mind.

I would like to think that your situation is probably one of the best case scenarios if you were to indeed keep some of these hognoses together. You will have a large container with plenty of furniture that will allow each snake to occupy its own space, and also allow for microhabitats. All three snakes will be of similar size (of which, I would like to point out is not necessarily a deterrent for these animals!) And you will also have (hopefully) experience keepers who will have above average knowledge relative to a typical hobbyist. One other factor is that the prying eye of the public throughout the day will also be your alert system if anything goes wrong. You'll hear a girls screaming and kids pounding on the glass if they see something happening!

My other suggestions may be obvious to you already, such as only feeding these snakes off exhibit and in their own individual containers (do not mix and match the individual snake's containers, you do not want the smell of their roommate to be associated with feeding), and train the staff/volunteers adequately so that they are aware of their aggressive feeding behaviors.

Off hand, I am not aware of any publications from peer-reviewed journals on the topic of cannibalism, and especially on captive bred specimens. The link below outlines some of the probabilities nonetheless...

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=707774,709160
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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)