Hognose snake...bites?

[Malkavian]

Friend of mine is looking for a small snake suitable for keeping in an apartment. She was dead set on a western hognose, but last night she came across an account of one biting someone and their hand swelling up and whatnot.

Now I think she's a bit spooked and thought I was lying about the snake's docile-ness and suitability as a pet.

In the meantime I ask any of you who have experience with the species: How often do they really bite? And isn't it incredibly difficult to get any invenomation from such a small rear fanged snake? I was under the impression you just about had to rub your finger in toad guts to get a solid tag from a hognose.

 

[OldHag]

The hog would have to chew on your hand and get it back to the rear fangs...so yes, it would be a bit hard, but not impossible, to be invenomated.
In my experience, the babies seem a bit nippy..but I think that is because theyre trying to see whats edible and whats not, or just a inate defense thing. If you handle them as babies they turn out to be nice adults. Yes theres always exceptions to the rule. But they make wonderful pets!!

 

[Beardo]

It is a common misconception that Hognoses are rear-fanged venomous....yes, they have enlarged rear teeth, but those are for popping toads that inflate as a defense mechanism. Toads make up the majority of their diet in the wild. They do not have venom ducts, but they do have Duvernoy's glands...they have a slightly toxic saliva that contains several chemicals such as an anticoagulant.

I was chewed on by a Western Hognose and all it did was bleed a little more than usual because of the anticoagulant. The person whose arm swelled up was a VERY adverse reaction....plus they let the snake chew for several MINUTES lol. All of the Westerns I've had were very docile and they make great pets!

 

[Trace]

I breed Western hognoses along with South American tri-colored hogs. They really are great snakes. I would not call these animals 'nippy' in the sense that they bite out of defense. Hogs will mock-strike, hiss and flair their neck but when they actually strike they are doing nothing more than hitting you with their hard rostral scale (nose). I would highly recommend them as a first pet. Remember, all animals have certain proteins in their saliva, this helps to break down food during chewing. Some people just tend to have more of a reaction to certain proteins. I have heard of sever 'envenomations' from the harmless North American garter snake.

 

[Malkavian]

I like what I'm hearing so far. I think ill be wringing the website out of my friend to see how accurate the account is and whatnot. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[NoS]

I got my hognose from David. I absolutely love this little girl. Great personallity, beautiful, and when I play with her on the coutch she digs that nose into me and it is very funny. I would recommend these snakes to anyone.

 

[pitbulllady]

The incident in which the Western Hognose bit the guy was posted on Kingsnake.com, complete with pics, a few years ago. The guy actually encouraged the snake, an 18-inch-long specimen, to bite him by scenting his finger with pinkie mice, then allowed it to chew on him for about two minutes, just to see what the reaction would be. This is the ONLY case I've ever seen of a North American Hognose actually biting someone, and it took a deliberate effort to trick the snake into biting a human. I've never seen any Hognose, Eastern or Western, try to bite. They will make bluff strikes with their mouths closed, they will hiss and hood up like a Cobra(the Easterns have a much more impressive hood, truelly rivaling that of a real Cobra in some specimens), but that's the extent of their "aggression". As long as you don't handle the snake after handling its food items, there should not be a problem. These snakes are so cute(how can anyone resist a face like that?)that even many snake-haters are "converted" after seeing one up close. One of my best friends was terrified of snakes when I first met her, and couldn't even stand to look at one, until I caught a big Eastern Hog in their yard, and she got to see it go through all its "show-biz", complete with playing "possum'. She thought it was hilarious that the snake would flip right back over onto its back if I set it upright, and how it would raise up its head and have a look-see when it thought the coast was clear, only to "die" again as soon as it spotted one of us! This was the first snake she ever got bold enough to touch, in her entire life, because she could sense that something that funny and cute could not possibly be dangerous.

pitbulllady

 

[OldHag]

LMAO!!! that is a great story!! I love these guys too!! Everyone thinks theyre rattle snakes! If Im holding one theyre like OMG DONT TOUCH THAT!!! ITS A RATTLER!!! I think theyre gorgeous! Inspite of the all the bluff.

 

[Malkavian]

they are definitely gorgeous. It's my dream to get ahold of a black phase eastern one day, but my luck I wont be able to get it to feed