The Husbandry of Western Hognose Snakes

How to Care for and Breed your Western Hognose Snakes

Lindsay Adams Technical Writing Mr. Littleton 30 May 2012

Introduction
Western hognose snakes are a smaller species of snake commonly found in the western United States. They are slowly becoming more popular in the pet trade and as a breeder animal. It is believed that they will become the next corn snake in the hobby with the many color morphs and patterns available. They are relatively easy to care for. Most of them will readily take frozen-thawed (f/t) rodents. It is generally best to feed them two or three small meals a week, instead of one big meal, making them different to care for than most other snakes. Like most snakes, heat must be provided for them. One side of their tank should be kept in a cooler range, around 75oF, while the hotter side should stay around high 80s and low 90s. They are a unique snake that reacts in a fascinating way to stress or possible predators. They will expel air, making a loud hissing sound while curling up like a rattlesnake. Should this fail to deter a predator, the hognose will then flatten their neck like a cobra and mock strike (striking with the mouth closed) at the target. If this too fails to scare off the predator the snake will appear to convulse, roll over on its back, open its mouth, and play dead. They will keep a watchful eye, returning to their normal behavior once the predator has left.

Caution: Western hognose snakes are rear-fanged and have a toad-specific venom. Since the venom is toad specific, it rarely bother humans, hence why the western hognose snake is not listed as a venomous species. A normal bite from them will not bother you, unless they chew and insert their rear fangs. Localized swelling is about all the harm that will occur. Still, it is wise to seek medical treatment in the in the case of a bite to protect against infection and an allergic reaction to the venom or saliva.

Goal
This set of instructions is designed to provide the reader with all the materials and knowledge they will need in order to successfully breed western hognose snakes, as well as providing information on how to care for their young.

Materials and Equipment

You will need the following items for keeping and breeding your hognose snakes1: Two aquarium tanks, 10 gallon size minimum Heating for the tanks. Either reptile under-tank heat-pads or heat lamps2 Bedding for the tanks. I prefer aspen snake bedding as it allows the snakes to dig.3 A rock. The snakes will need a rock against for shedding purposes. A water dish: for the snake to drink out of. Food: most hognose readily take various life stages of mice. Pinkies, fuzzies, hoppers, adults. If you have trouble getting them to eat, other food items can be used to scent the mice such as lizards, toads, and even a can of tuna.4 An incubator. I recommend the Reptibator incubator as it displays humidity, the temperature and has an alarm you can set for temperature variations. A wine cooler or air conditioned room. Hognose snakes need to go through a period of hibernation Figure 1: Repibator. herpsupplies.com known as brumation before they can breed. You will o need a way to keep them for 2 months at 50-60 F. A temperature gun so you can keep track of cage and incubation temperatures. A nest box and an egg incubation box. These can both be made from cheap plastic Tupperware. Youll want to put a hole in the top of the nest box, and holes in the side of the incubation box. Vermiculite: this will be your incubation medium. Youll want to make sure you have a big bag of it. And of course, the snakes. You will need a male hognose at a minimum of 60g (preferable higher) and a female that weighs a minimum of 250g (though 300g is recommended).
Image courtesy

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This article assumes that you do not already have the basic set-up for keeping hognose snakes. Do NOT use heat rocks. They get too hot and will burn your snakes. 3 Do NOT use cedar bedding. It is toxic to snakes. Also, sand is not recommended. If ingested it could cause impaction, which could lead to death. 4 It is recommended you feed frozen/thawed as live rodents could injure your snake.

Basics
So to summarize the basic care again, youll want to feed your hognose two small meals a week for ideal weight gain. Youll want to keep them in separate tanks, with the cool side being around 75oF and the hot side being around 90oF. And they will need to be 60g (for the males) and 250g (for the females) before they can successfully breed. The weights are usually reached when the animals are sexually mature, around one year of age for the males, and two years of age for the females.

Brumation
Youll want to brumate your snakes during the winter. I choose to do this in January and keep them cold until the first day of March. Stop feeding your hognose ten days before you decide to bromate them. During the last week before brumation, cool the snakes down gradually, until they are no longer on heat. Then place them in your room or wine cooler and bring them down to 50-60oF. Keep them at this temperature range for the next two months. Do NOT feed them during this period. Snakes need heat to digest their food, and without heat the food will rot and make them ill, possibly even causing death. Do make sure they always have water available. And clean their cage/container regularly. After two months have gone by, gradually start warming them back up to the temperatures they had been at before brumation. They can receive a small meal 3-5 days after coming out of brumation, but I find that they tend to refuse that small meal. 10 days after coming out of brumation you can resume normal feeding.

Ovulation
Hognose will generally go through a pre-ovulation shed 3-4 weeks after leaving brumation. This signifies that they can be put in with a male. Some hognose however, will not have a preovulation shed, and you can miss the chance to breed them if you are not careful. I suggest having a practice year and recording data from your snakes behavior to see if they will have a pre-ovulation shed or not. If this is not feasible, then place the males in with the females right after brumation so as not to miss their receptive period. I leave the males in with the females until at least two matings have been witnessed, or until the male loses all interest in the females. Some breeders suggest leaving the male in for only a few days, and then removing him for a few days.

Once the female has ovulated she will put on weight, and 3-8 weeks after her mating she will undergo her pre-lay shed.5 Then, just 3-14 days after her pre-lay shed, she will lay her eggs.6 Make sure you remove the water dish and provide a nest box after her pre-lay shed. Offer your snake water every day, but do not leave it in with her. In seeking a moist place to lay her eggs, she may lay in the water dish, killing the eggs. Preparing the nest box: You will want to mix vermiculite and water in your nest box. The water is usually a 3:1 ratio, sometimes 50:50 by weight. The best thing to do is to add water to your vermiculate, mix it up and see if it is wet enough to clump together, but not wet enough to drip when squeezed. Fluff it, and place in Tupperware container (the one with the hole cut in the lid). Place the container in with the female and you are good to go.

On Eggs
This is an example of what you might see when you hognose lays its eggs. The two yellow-brown eggs in the top left corner are known as slugs. A slug is an unfertilized egg. The spotted ones are probably also bad eggs, but its best to keep them and incubate them until they go bad. The large white egg in the bottom left of the picture is an example of a viable (good) hognose egg. These are what you hope for in a clutch, as they are the most likely to develop and hatch. Note: Incubate all eggs until you wre sure they are bad. In 4-5 days you can candle them with a flashlight to see if there are veins in the eggs. If not, or if the eggs are starting to smell, they are most likely bad.

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Note that some snakes take longer than others, so dont worry If they go over the time limit. See footnote 5.

Incubating
You will want to incubate your hognose eggs for 50-60 days at the temperature range of 7882oF. The hotter you incubate them the faster they will develop, but you will run the risk of not having a temperature buffer that the eggs can safely be at. I let mine fluctuate around 80oF. Make sure they stay humid, but that they arent drowning. If condensation forms in the egg incubation box, make sure you add a few more holes. Whatever you do, DO NOT turn your eggs. Snake embryos attach to the egg walls and if you turn them, they will become detached and it will kill the embryo. Mold on your eggs is generally not a good thing, but I have seen moldy eggs hatch. Keep them in the incubator, but carefully move them farther away from the other eggs, so the mold doesnt spread. Also keep a better watch on the humidity, as the humidity is what causes the mold to grow.

Hatchlings
The eggs will probably hatch slowly. Young snakes tend to pip (stick their heads out of the eggs) but remain in the shell for hours. Do not disturb them during this time, and help them only if you feel they will die without assistance. You will not need to feed them for the first week or so, as they will still be absorbing the rest of the yolk that had been in the egg with them. Keep them in smaller containers, preferably on newspaper (easier to clean) and at the same temperature range as the adults. Make sure they are drinking, as some snakes do not realize a water dish means water. Also make sure you give them shallow water dishes as some snakes can fall in a water dish and drown if they cannot get out again. Young hognose can be difficult to feed. If they wont take a mouse pinky there are several things you can try. One is to split the head of the pinky. The smell will usually entice the young hognose to eat. You can also try scenting the pinky with a toad, frog or lizard. This usually works, as that is what hognose eat in the wild. If that fails, scenting with canned tuna or salmon may work. Force-feeding should be a last resort, used only to keep the young snake from starving to death. I recommend carnivore care as it is made specifically for animals with a carnivorous diet. Keep caring for your young hognose, and soon they will grow up into adult snakes, able to have young of their own.

Disclaimer
Unless otherwise stated, all pictures in this document are property of the author.

Additional Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodon_nasicus http://www.hognose.com/ http://extremehogs.com/Caresheet.html http://www.thehognosesnake.co.uk/