Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry for the common question, but I have never raised hogs from babies to breed. I have sold many babies and seen them grow for customers and I have bred adults that I acquired.

Mine were WC westerns and some tuff feeders. One I assist fed for almost 2 years. Get a pinky in her mouth and she would take it down. So,, with all the feeding issues with these WC ones I think they are all under normal size for BC babies that have fed well their entire lives.

My largest male and females are about 13". No idea why the one male grew faster than the female,, but the females are now catching up to him.

So, normal colubrids the rule is 3' 3 years. I have to toss teh 3' of course,, but is 3 years and good weight the normal start? and what lengths do you consider good for 3 year old nasicus?

Thanks
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Thanks for reading.
Tom

www.HerpZillA.com
John Holister & Bob Applegate's Herp Chat now easy thru mibbet

At a reptile show I was talking about Western Hognoses with a breeder there. We were only discussing males as I was wandering when they reach sexual maturity just from my own self-interest. The breeder told me that he starts using his males males that he raises to breed at 200 grams. He also said some may reach this target quicker and others may take longer. As for females he told me but I put the info in the back of my brain because I don't intend to breed any of my snakes until I graduate college.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Thanks for the info,, I'm not in a big hurry to breed them. Plenty of regular hogs out there. And its not a project to make me rich,, just filling that herp thing I need to do lol.

But since I planned next year, I was wondering if the slow start and the brumation periods I tried to help with feeding will put me off another year.

Again thanks.
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Thanks for reading.
Tom

www.HerpZillA.com
John Holister & Bob Applegate's Herp Chat now easy thru mibbet

He must have said the females at 200 grams. Males can breed at 40-50 grams.
Mike Bodner's Thayeri

Makes more sense that way now that I think about it. My male is average adult size, at least I believe so -- 18 inches. He FEELS about 100 but I don't really have any comparison.

I think your right, but I do have problem with that. Length and weight are not directly related. A short fat individual hog is not the same as a long normal normal hog.

As an example, wild hogs of excellent condition, weight about 40% less then a captive of similar length. Its not about right or wrong, it is what it is. Cheers

I would think that's really slow. But that can occur in nature as well.

We have a two westerns and both were hatchlings in Nov. of last year. The female is about 17 inches and the male 12. My son cares for them and the male gave him problems, so I took over and now its feeds regularly and is growing well.

I am very interested in what information you will receive, as I am getting all manner of information on what is the actual reproductive size of western hogs. My son, tells me, he surfs the web, that westerns are indeed tiny.

In the field yesterday, I observed 4 adult females and they ranged from 22 inches, to 27 inches. It was a good day, first time in a while, they were all fatties.

Anyway, I picked up a 4 1/2 inch male Dec 31 last year and hes already 14 inches. Best wishes

Hello, its been my experience, with all reptiles, that faster they grow as neonates, the better producers they are as adults(and live longer)

There is no question that females get larger then males. But that has nothing to do with neonate growth. Males simply slow stop growing(slow down a whole lot) at a smaller size then females.

Also, husbandry has a lot to do with growth, both in captivity and support in nature. In poor years, they simply do not grow as much as good years. The average size of adults in nature, tell you what the conditions were when they were small.

The reality is, hogs can grow very quickly if supported, a fast as any snake.

Lastly, in captivity, folks tend to average EVERYTHING. Temps/feeding etc. In nature, with most animals and hogs fit, its boom or bust. Biology has a habit of averaging data.(to quantify) the problem is the average individual in nature does not make it. only the superior individuals do. Cheers