Hognoses are poisonous, but the venom is not a threat to most people. General reaction to a bite is mild swelling. A small percentage of people can have an allergic reaction (similar to bee stings).

The only reason a hog would bite is that they mistake you for food. This is easily avoided by washing your hands before handling the snake. If they ever should happen to bite, run them immediately under the tap and they should let go (they really have to chew on you for a bit to get any venom in). You can also pinch their heads closed while they bite you so they can't chew.

Definately don't get a hognose if the possibility of getting bit bothers you. But if you do decide on it, go for it! I have a 2 month old w. hog, and so far it's been a joy.
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1.0.0 Sinaloan Milksnake - Widdershins
1.0.0 Western Hognose - Moqui
1.0.0 Shepherd Mix - Loki
0.1.0 Pug - Quasi
0.0.3 Goldfish - 1, 2, and 3
1.0.0 Husband - Greg

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• need info on hog nose snakes - janome, Wed May 12 17:26:58 2004
• RE: need info on hog nose snakes - sapphire_snake, Wed May 12 18:10:42 2004
• RE: need info on hog nose snakes - HLuterman, Thu May 13 16:06:53 2004
• RE: need info on hog nose snakes - sapphire_snake, Fri May 14 11:37:09 2004