Viper Boa? Hognose?

crawldad

Arachnoknight
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Oct 20, 2005
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I am trying to expand my snake collection a bit. I do a lot of hands on diversity training with school kids, so I have 2 requirements. Not aggressive (understanding all snakes bite, just not all the time), and not to big (7' or less). Any one have experience with the Viper Boa? Cool looking snake, just never seen one. Western Hognose. Another different Snake that would be a nice addition. If you've had experience with the Viper, let me know. If you have snakes for sale, contact me as I have a PayPal hole burning in my pocket. Thank you, Michael
 

Midnightrdr456

Arachnoprince
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Western hogs can be a little bit nippy, though with handling they can get tamer. I dont know about the other.

Plus hognoses are considered venomous, just harmless to humans, unless they are allergic, just something to think about
 

Mechanical-Mind

Arachnoknight
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Jul 18, 2003
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I hate making sweeping generalizations regarding snake species and their respective behaviors because when it comes down to it, they're all different. You can have one snake displaying a defensive demeanor and another example of the same species displaying quite the opposite. It all depends on the specific snake's inherent quirks as well as its present conditions. For example, when it last shed, when it last ate, whether its been eating live or thawed, what its temps/humidity levels have been at, whether its been bred, whether it's in season, is protecting eggs, is gravid, whether it's a neonate, sub-adult, or adult, as well as your handling/wrangling capabilities, etc. etc. are all factors that will vary the intensity of their defensive behavior. There is tremendous behavioral variance from one specimen to the next and that's what I think you should keep in mind.

Your time may be better spent by taking an objective look at what the adult sizes are (for both male and female) as you have been, and also care requirements.

A few things I'd like to throw out there are:

Candoia spp. are stunners, but do you have an enclosure that will tolerate the higher humidity (e.g. can't be made of wood)? Does it have enough ventilation? Also, Candoia aspera is also a devout ambush predator, so more often than not, getting them on frozen/thawed prey items is going to be more than just a little challenging. Lastly, finding a healthy, CB Viper will be more difficult and ultimately more expensive than that of a Hog-nosed snake.

For Heterodon spp., they are venomous as Midnightrdr mentioned, but they're also rear-fanged snakes. So the likelihood of receiving venom from a bite is very, very slim.

Edit: One other thing I find a lot of folks over-look entirely is the future prey item(s) of their snakes. 9 dollars every two weeks for a large rat isn't half as nice as $1.00 for an adult mouse. This I feel would put a tally in the Hog-nosed snake's corner, seeing as even a very large adult female would only take an average sized adult mouse.

Best regards,
-Matt
 
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crawldad

Arachnoknight
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Oct 20, 2005
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Thank you

for the advice thus far. I have kept exotics for 20+ years, and am totaly anal with my research on any new animal prior to purchase. All the experiences and information from others in our hobby is welcome. Also, if someone knows of any for sale, drop me a line. I've searched the web, but have always been a "comparison shopper".
 

Joe

Arachnoknight
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Dec 8, 2003
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$9 for a large rat? Is that Canadian dollars?
 

green_bottle_04

Arachnobaron
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Western hogs can be a little bit nippy, though with handling they can get tamer. I dont know about the other.

Plus hognoses are considered venomous, just harmless to humans, unless they are allergic, just something to think about
ive got a pair of western hogs, a female eastern hog, a madagascan blonde and madagascan giant hog...ive not had any problem at all with any of them being nippy. the western hogs are rear-fanged...but their vemon is very mild. they only time you would have a problem is if you just let it chew on you. and even then the symptoms arent that bad
 

P.jasonius

Arachnobaron
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Nov 19, 2006
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I was going to get a hog recently (got a black milksnake instead) and did alot of asking around from the different breeders about them. I inquired to one of them about the 'nippy' behaviour, and he said that it is due to their feeding behaviour, not agression. The will attack your fingers thinking they are food, in other words.
The breeder stated he overcame this by giving them a good "tap on the head" before handling, to let them know its not a feeding session. You can contact the breeder if you want info on this, as it is second-hand knowledge; www.cornsnakes.net.
[edit]While we're on the subject, which spp hognose is the best for being handled, temperament, feeding, all that.
 
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secular

Arachnosquire
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Jan 26, 2006
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i have a young western hognose and she is great. very curious, easy to handle and not at all aggressive. sometimes if startled she'll give a little bit of that famous hognose all bark and bite but then again she could have been sleeping. ;)

i think bites due to feeding response could be common with many species. in an attempt to help my snakes understand that it's never "feeding time" when hands come to remove them from the enclosures, i move them to a feeding box first. it seems to help.

i vote get a hognose, but what do i know! hehe. :)
 

green_bottle_04

Arachnobaron
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Plus hognoses are considered venomous, just harmless to humans, unless they are allergic, just something to think about
they are not harmless to humans! if they bite and are allowed to chew you WILL spend some time in the hospital. if a madagascan giant hog even bites you, doesnt have to gnaw, you will spend time in the hospital. statements like " its not poisonous to humans gets people hurt!!!!
 
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