This is a care sheet I wrote for another site.... please feel free to add comments or let me know of any inacuracies etc.... cheers... J

Care Sheet for Western Hognose Snakes (Heterodon nasicus nasicus)
These small snakes are full of character, have a wonderfully turned up ‘snub’ nose, and are relatively easy to keep providing you ensure you meet their husbandry requirements appropriately. They are native to North America and mostly found around the High Plains of Texas among the sp@rse vegetation that provides a sufficiently loose substrate for them to burrow in.

Size: Their adult length tends to vary with females generally being larger than males. Most males range between 16 and 26 inches (40 to 66 cm) and females tend to range between 25 and 36 inches (64 to 92cm). They tend to be more heavy bodied and chunkier than corn snakes and grow in girth rather than length.

Housing: As Hoggies do not get very big, they can be housed in relatively small vivariums. I have read that some Hoggies have been stressed by a too large enclosure, but mine is now a year old and in a 3’x1’x10” high wooden viv that is part of my viv stack, that I expect him to be in for the remainder of his life. As a hatchling, he was kept in a 12”x12” exo terra cube with two hides, and was forever out exploring and climbing up the heat mat wires. I did not use a ‘next size up’ viv, but quite simply moved him to the larger viv and put various hides and logs in there, and he adjusted just fine. He has always had a small tupperware box with children’s play sand in, and there is fairly often evidence that he digs himself into this and ‘plays’. ;-) It is essential with all snakes to have a water bowl in their viv, and hoggies are no different. This should be changed daily, or every two days as a minimum. I have never seen my Hoggy soaking in his water bowl as my corns will occasionally do,(or at least take their head for a good swim about)! but I do often see him drink.
I did use tortoise bedding as a base for him at first, similar to my corns, but he far prefers aspen or auboise in which he can dig.

Heating: The optimum heat requirement for hoggies is between 30 to 32 degree’s C in the hotspot daytime going down to around 26 to 27 degree’s C at night. I find the best way to heat my Hoggies viv is by using a heat mat, as they do not require massive vivs and it is generally easier to keep both warm and cool ends at the right temp using a heat mat in a smaller viv than using a heat/spot bulb. I also give my hoggie a day / night lighting cycle of around 14 – 16 hours daylight time, as they are mostly very active little critters in daytime.

Feeding: Most captive bred Hoggies are feeding on frozen thawed pinks by the time any good breeder will sell them, and once they establish a feeding pattern they are mostly quite good eaters. However, this being said, they do have times when they go off their food for a while, and this can be quite worrying for some owners. If you are the type of person that gets really stressed by an animal not feeding for some weeks, then be aware that Hoggies may not be the best option for you. The best way to deal with this is to carry on offering food weekly. When mine goes on ‘hunger strike’ I generally move down to a smaller size prey item after 2 weeks of refusal and will try various methods of either ‘braining’ or ‘scenting’ if he is still refusing food after about 4 weeks. Things most commonly used for ‘scenting’ are cheap chicken soup, hot dog tin water, tuna or salmon scent, boiled egg white or fresh trout. Some people have been reported to have used frog urine with some success, but unless you have a captive frog, then it is not particularly easy to come by! From what I can remember, the longest time I think my Hoggie refused food was approx. 12 weeks. He then took a pinkie again, and I slowly moved him back up to two pinkies and then fluffs etc. Mine also appears to like it when I trail his mouse around a little in front of it, and will chase it quite enthusiastically. Having said that, you have to slow it down a bit for him to latch on... but once he has ‘caught’ it, there is no getting him to let go!

Important Information: OK.... this is the point where we talk about the fact that they are classed as rear fanged and mildly venomous! Don’t panic.... most hoggies rarely attempt to bite providing you use common sense and don’t pick it up whilst smelling of any of its prey items! Some can be a bit viv defensive, but for most people this is one of their charms. Mine will very rarely huff and puff at me (get his hoodie out and hiss), but it is useful to know that they can and will do this if you frighten them! If a hoggie is viv defensive, then most of them are really placid and laid back once you have them out of their viv, so the use of a snake hook to get them out is good. A lot of hoggies only fake strike (closed mouth strike) anyway, but if they do happen to tag you, probably the most you will experience is anything between a tiny pinpreeck feeling, through to a nettle sting type of feeling, and if you are unlucky enough to let them chew on you for a few minutes, you could end up with a swollen hand and or arm for a day or three! Most people i) don’t have a bad reaction to a bite, or ii) get what is termed as a ‘dry bite’ anyway, so have no reaction other than a pinpreeck). That having been said however, there are a few people who have had a bad reaction to a hoggie bite, and at least 1 person that I am aware of having been left with an impaired immune system following having a bad reaction to a hoggie bite, so always handle your hoggie with care and be aware of its behaviour. Most hoggies will calm right down when out of the viv, but please do be aware both their potential if you do get a bite, and your own individual reaction to it.

If you are unlucky (or silly enough to handle when prey scent is on hands) and you do manage to trigger a feeding response in them, the best way to get them off if they latch on is by putting their head under slow running water (head end down) or put something like a little alcoholic hand gel on their nose. They will normally let go fairly quickly.

Having said all of the above... Hoggie’s are wonderful little snakes with great characters and really interesting to own. Mine spends approx 60% of his time cruising his viv looking for ways to escape, and will often come straight towards me when I open his viv, and will fairly frequently come out onto my hand if I hold my hand just in front of him and wait patiently. When he does not feel like being handled, he leaves me in no doubt of this by heading for one of his hides when I open his viv, and if I dare to remove his hide, he will then sit and look at me with a mean look in his eye and hiss if I try to chase him about! ;-) He does not shed his skin (slough) as often as my corns, but will often eat when he is in shed.

Intentional spelling mistakes, as the server will not let me type anything that has anything that could be interpreted as a swear word in it!

Links to a couple of others...

Western Hognose Snake

Hognose Caresheet


Link to a pic of a 'bad bite' from a hoggie so you are aware of their potential - PLEASE NOTE.. it is unusual to get a reaction like this, but obviously not impossible... this hog chewed on the guy for a few minutes and obviously was allergic to the venom by the looks of things.

Hognose Snake Bite

Enjoy!!!

Added...
Managed to find some hard evidence to cite from a journal I have access to thro' uni... thought some might find it interesting... (cut and pasted from another site I share information with to save me typing it all out again, so hope it comes across ok)

Edit: Just come across an article in the journal Toxicon (Sept 2009 Vol 54, Iss3 P354), so have copied it below for anyone who is interested. It was written by Scott A. Weinstein and Daniel E. Keyler :


Weinstein SA, Keyler DE.

Department of Clinical Toxinology, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia. venfraction@yahoo.com

Abstract
A case of clinically significant local envenoming resulting from a bite inflicted by a Western hognose snake, Heterodon nasicus, is described. The patient was bitten while offering a juvenile mouse to a captive snake. The snake maintained a grip on the patient's arm (left anticubital fossa) for several minutes. The bite resulted in marked edema, ecchymoses, lymphadenopathy, cutaneous signs suggestive of mild cellulitis and blister formation. There were no systemic effects. Recovery was complete after approximately five months. Several documented Heterodon sp. bites with significant clinical effects are reviewed. This common xenodontine colubrid must be considered capable of inflicting medically significant bites. It is currently unclear whether the pathological changes associated with these bites are due to specific Duvernoy's secretion components, Type I hypersensitivity or a combination of these. The influence of the feeding response on the severity of clinical effects is considered as is the discrepancy between experimentally verified pharmacological activities of Duvernoy's secretions from Heterodon sp. and medical sequelae of documented bites. Although hognose snakes may uncommonly produce medically significant bites, they should not be considered dangerous or venomous. Captive specimens should be handled carefully, particularly when offered food.

Disagree about this bit, as they are obviously venemous... but think author meant to put not be considered dangerously venemous??

Just been given permission by Whosthedaddy who has just posted a fantastic shot of his hog showing fang.... enjoy! And note the position of the fangs for if you ever get into the unfortunate situation where you eventually have to force feed!

anyone got anymore ideas ive scented with salmon and or tuna soaked and left it rubbed it agaist her nose, she wont take and dont want to resort to pinkie press etc

I have a hognose that has been very picky with eating and was at the point of losing weight and looking very baggy (too small for his skin). I tried manually force feeding a pinky with no success and was considering getting a pinky pump but the tool is in my opinion not engineered very well. I tried grinding up a pinky myself and using a syringe with a tube to feed but that had it complications as well and then I had my eureka moment at a friends house while looking at his collection of snakes with him I noticed some medical supplies in a box and on top was a cath tube and asked him if he used them for force feeding sure enough he got them from a trade and had great success with it.

this was my first tool.




You can see how the end looks like a torture tool and i tried to dull it but still didn't like how stiff the aquarium tubing was.

cath tube


Much softer tubing and has a nice angle to prevent getting it into the lung because you can aim it up towards the roof of the mouth and not the belly.

Feed the snake baby turkey food and grind up calcium suppliment pills and a little water. I mixed it like 2 parts turkey 1 part calcium and 1 part water.



I don't have pics but i cut the aquarium tubing shorter and cut down the cath tube a little to get the aquarium tube in it and when the food is mixed I fill the syringe and pump it into the tube, there is some waist but who cares.

If your an active member I can post pics once I am registered for a day. I'll try to keep in touch so you can feed your snake.

Just to clarify this last point:

Venom is a complex substance produced in a specialized gland and delivered by an associated specialized apparatus that is deleterious to other organisms in a given dosage and is actively used in the subjugation and/or digestion of prey and/or in defense (Minton, 1974; Minton and Minton, 1980; Russell, 1980; Mebs, 2002).

Dr Weinsteins stance here is that the definition of 'venomous' is based on function as well as form, rather then just form. I.E. that in the case of H.nasicus they fulfill the first criteria; they have a complex substance produced by a specialised gland, but that currently there is a lack of formally observed and reported evidence that it is used in either subjugation/digestion/defense. Also in labling it 'venom' and moving on we could be ignoring another biological use and/or an important evolutionary link or by-product.

This lack of evidence isn't due to lack of trying -It is routinely pointed out that H.nasicus will closed mouth strike and swallow prey that is very much alive and kicking (and in some cases screaming).

To quote Dr Weinstein:

"Just because an oral secretion is made in a specific gland, has associated teeth and produces a clinical effect does NOT mean that it is a “venom”. Again, unless there is a universally accepted change in the consensus definition of venom, biological function, how it is used, is a crucial defining factor. Therefore, clinical effects should not be a primary defining contributor; only a secondary consideration to be considered in relation with the primary criterion. As a very brief example: the human salivary proteome is comprised of well over 300 proteins; this includes many biologically-active components, and is too extensive a sub-topic to describe here. I can assure you as a physician who has treated many such bites, and as many readers probably know, there are few animal bites worse than that inflicted by a human. Only bites from rabid animals, felines with the pathogenic Gram negative bacterium, Pasteurella multocida, as well as large canines, megapredators (great cats, bears, etc) and non-human primates (that may have several viruses potentially fatal to humans) are worse. Human saliva is toxic when injected into experimental animals (thus, there is a toxic as well as septic effect), produced in salivary glands that may differ in secretion flow characteristics as measured by planar MRI (sub-mandibular vs parotid), and there is salivary flow around modified dentition (incisors). We do not use our buccal secretions in subduing prey, but we do partly pre-digest our food, and we don’t use them in defense (well, most of us don’t anyway…). Are we venomous? No."


It may seem to be arguing over semantics - but what's the point in having a definition if you dont use it consistently?

As Dr Weinstein says in the conclusion of that abstract - they can still give a medically significant bite, but whether they can be acurately described as venomous is open for discussion.

IMO it is perfectly fine to describe H.nasicus as 'venomous' when dealing with the average hobbiest. Although possibly innacurate it removes unecessary and rather complex explanations, much like the Bohr-Rutherford model of the atom taught in schools is 'innacurate' (or rather not as accurate as it could be) - it is however sufficient.

__________________

1.0.0 Eastern Fox - Slagar
1.0.0 Western Hognose - Finnegan
0.0.1 Giant Malagasy Hognose - Bennan
1.0.0 BCI - Ed

Why was this fool hand feeding in the first place. FFS you shouldn't even do that with a corn snake. Yeah they should be labeled VENOMOUS just because there is quite a difference between getting bit by a corn snake and a Hoggy there fore imo for safety sake that is how it should be. I will always treat my hoggies like harmless colubrids but everyone should know that this "could" happen.