Its absolutely normal for hognose to swallow prey by how they secur e it. The reason is very simple, their nose, They are a snake of soft sandy areas and secure prey that's in the sand. Toads, lizards, etc and as the prey is not in the open, they swallow it as they find it. backwards, sideways, and head first. They will go headfirst if they have to. In most cases its not needed.
Males have tails that are much longer then a female. Males also become sexually mature at a very small size, 12 inches or so. But do grow as large as females. The largest male I have seen in the field was 29 inches, which is also the size of the largest females. Out of nearly 300 wild snakes, there were many males over 24 inches. Best wishes

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