I am soon to be getting my first hognose and would love to introduce the soon to be mine leucistic.
Welcome! I wish you luck on your new journey with your Hoggie!
I only have one Hognose but heres a few tips I’ve learned with mine…
Be patient with feeding. They are picky! It may take a little while for them to take interest with food once they’re in a new environment. If you have troubles feeding yours try feeding them the day after a fresh shed, they seem to have stronger appetites during this time. I had to start mine on live pinky mice because she wouldn’t eat anything else even after having the breeder reassure me that she was well started on f/t mice. It took me months to get her on f/t mice…
Make sure you have Benadryl if you get bit… they are mildly venomous and if they manage to tag you and hold on for an extended time it can cause swelling, or in the worst case scenario an allergic reaction which you should seek medical care for immediately. Kinda like bee stings!
Give them plenty of bedding! They love to burrow. Aspen shavings works well because it holds its shape for them to make tunnels.
Musk gland impaction… from what I’ve learned this is most common in breeding age females, its called “bulb tail” and can be a chronic issue that needs care by an experienced keeper or a veterinarian to drain. Keeping a clean, dry enclosure may reduce the risk of this occuring but it can happen even in a clean environment. The sooner this is treated the better the outcome but it can come back. Any other medical issues that show up may need veterinary attention.
Once they are feeding regularly their appetite may skyrocket and will go crazy for food! Be careful to not get bit because they can move a lot faster than you may expect.
This isn’t an entire care guide to Hoggies, I’ve only had mine for 5 years. Just some stuff I’ve picked up on, theres a lot more that can happen and you should read up on as much as you can!
Oh my gosh He’s gorgeous! He’s (She’s?)such a big, scary boy or girl masquerading as a cobra. He’s going to skip mice and devour your hand!
Hognoses are a trip. So, so amusing and funny and adorable!
Welcome to the community! We pretty much demand photos after you get him/her settled in haha! Just be sure to only handle him/her once you receive him/her to put them in their new enclosure, then after a week to 2 weeks you can begin handling for short intervals and try to introduce food.
Have you decided on a name yet?
I have decided to name him Io! Thanks for all the information it is much appreciated.
Claritin is much better in that situation than benadryl but as someone who keeps a lot of front fanged venomous snakes, anti histamines aren’t always the best thing to take after an envenomation. I’m sure it’s fine for hognose bites but anything front fanged talk to a toxicologist first.
Thank you for the info!
I’ve had a few tell me to have Benadryl for a Hognose bite reaction so I went by that, I don’t own any front fanged venomous so thats probably why I hadn’t heard of using Claritin for bites.