Hognose Snakes at Reptile Shows

I own one hognose snake and I am interested in purchasing others. My first snake I purchased on MorphMarket . She has been a great snake and came to me as advertised, beautiful and a strong eater. I was hoping to purchase a second snake at a reptile show, so that I could see the snake in person. Really have a chance to see a number of different morphs and make a next pick. I have been to two shows and have seen very few breeders that are selling hognose snakes. In fact only 2 and combined that had only 5 snakes. I don’t mean this to be a loaded question, but do the strong,
reputable breeders attend these shows? I am in North Carolina, but wondering if it is worth the adventure to travel to a large show like Tinley Park Reptile show. Am I likely to see a number of hognose breeders at a show like this?

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I went to a couple shows in Indianapolis this summer and I don’t remember seeing a single hoggie there. I was new and was only looking for BPs but there were probably at least 50 vendors there and I don’t remember anyone having them. So…my best advice would be look on the website for the local show there should be a phone number for someone in charge you can find pretty easily and you can either search the site for their vendor list or call and ask if any hoggies will be there.

Personally that’s too far a trip for me for something like that but maybe you like to travel :smiley:

Hey, I’m also in NC. :slight_smile:
We don’t have tooooo many hognose breeders around here, and some of the bigger local breeders don’t do shows. The issue right now is that hognoses are very in demand and typically sell shortly after being listed for online sale so not too many make it to shows (at least that’s been my experience).
I’ll hopefully have a good group at the July charlotte show if all goes well- my breeders are still in brumation though. Are you looking for a particular morph?

Also typically the Columbia SC and Raleigh NC shows have more variety than other NC / SC / VA shows but that doesn’t always mean they have more hognoses.

And a few years ago I would have recommended going to Tinley to look for hogs, but now vendors have to have permits to sell anything native in Illinois so not as many hognose breeders were there when I went in October than past shows I’ve been to. It’s still VERY worth going to just for the experience and to socialize but again, there’s no guarantee you’ll find what you’re looking for there either.

Thank you the good advice. Glad to hear you are in NC. Interesting that the more diverse shows are in Columbia and Raleigh. I will definitely look for you at Charlotte show in July. Hope the breeding season goes well for you.
I am curious about a snow male as well as super conda axanthic. A lavender female, would be on the wish list at some point as well. I was thinking that Tinley might be a fun adventure, but sounds like it might be a bust if my interest is hognose snakes.

Thanks for the response and advice. Sounds like it might be difficult to find a reptile show where I can see a number of hognose snakes at once. It is nice with Ball Pythons that there are a number of vendors at the shows so you really have a chance to compare the morphs side by side.

If you make it out to Tinley you have got to check out JMG Reptiles. Check out their Facebook page for some amazing photos. I don’t think Jeff from JMG has missed a Tinley show.

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Thanks for the recommendation. If I do make the trip to Tinley I will make sure to check out JMG. I am heading to their Facebook page now.

The main issue with hognose is that they are not the most popular snake at shows and a lot of people tend to stay in the $150 range when it comes to hogs at shows when it comes to Charlotte, Columbia and Raleigh. The time of the year is also crucial to see a nice selection since people do not breed them year round like BP.

Last year I sold lower end hognose in Charlotte pretty fast the higher end stuff Albino Conda (which I don’t consider high end) Albino Super Conda came back home because again those sell better online.

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I do know that some shows in my area don’t allowed rear-fanged venomous snakes… even though we all know hognoses are barely if at all venomous. I don’t know about other areas but it could be beneficial to check if they’re allowed.

Thanks for the background. Given the breeding season for hognose snakes, any advice on what the best time of year to be looking?

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Summer and fall will be when you have the most choices and they will be animals that are well started, beware of animals that just hatched and may take scented and have not fed at least 10 times on F/T because as a pet owner switching or finding live pinkies can be very difficult.

Also check if they’re permit restricted. Plains (westerns) are permit restricted in central US. Easterns are permit restricted in the Northeast. RFV doesn’t matter: the restrictions are in place for conservation.

For the Columbia SC show, I live in SC and go there a good bit and they don’t seem to have very many hognose breeders either and they don’t have many crazy morphs however it’s more than I’ve seen at other shows if you are willing to travel to it and give it a shot.

Thanks for replying. Road trip to Columbia would be fun. I will put it on my list to check out.

Thank you. I will plan for summer and fall. The feeding advice is great. I am a fairly new owner, so I am sure I would panic if I got a non eater.