New to snake: Looking at a hognose (advice plz)

[craigafrechette]

Originally Posted by ItsCalligator

Thanks for the advice. That is a shame to hear, most videos and things I have read seem like they are easy enough. I was aware for the rear fangs and am I’m worried by that. Also how did you get him to start eatting, tuna juice on it’s food?

No, I made a bunch of husbandry tweaks. The biggest thing being I put him in a tiny Tupperware container inside a 2 gallon tank. Then I kept it covered with a towel most of the day. I felt as if security was the biggest hindrance to him feeling confident enough to eat.
I focused on making him feel secure and luckily got him eating before even trying scenting.

Now he eats pretty consistently, but still takes breaks with seemingly no rhyme or reason to why or for how long.
The poor little guy was almost 2 years old when he came to me and only weighed 11 grams. Ugggh, but now he's a healthy boy and I love him to pieces. He's a fantastic snake with quite the little personality.

I'm not saying a Hognose 100% shouldn't be your first snake. Just make sure you put tons of research into it before deciding you're up for it.
Females are typically easier as far as eating goes, but get much larger than males. So I'm not sure if that sways anything for you.
It may be worth getting an adult male who is already well established.

Just thoughts...feel free to ask me any questions you have. I'll be happy to share my experience and what I know about Hognose. Or if you explore other species I may be able to help there too.

[ItsCalligator]

Originally Posted by craigafrechette

No, I made a bunch of husbandry tweaks. The biggest thing being I put him in a tiny Tupperware container inside a 2 gallon tank. Then I kept it covered with a towel most of the day. I felt as if security was the biggest hindrance to him feeling confident enough to eat.
I focused on making him feel secure and luckily got him eating before even trying scenting.

Now he eats pretty consistently, but still takes breaks with seemingly no rhyme or reason to why or for how long.
The poor little guy was almost 2 years old when he came to me and only weighed 11 grams. Ugggh, but now he's a healthy boy and I love him to pieces. He's a fantastic snake with quite the little personality.

I'm not saying a Hognose 100% shouldn't be your first snake. Just make sure you put tons of research into it before deciding you're up for it.
Females are typically easier as far as eating goes, but get much larger than males. So I'm not sure if that sways anything for you.
It may be worth getting an adult male who is already well established.

Just thoughts...feel free to ask me any questions you have. I'll be happy to share my experience and what I know about Hognose. Or if you explore other species I may be able to help there too.

I appreciate the advice and if you are offering I do have a a few questions. As I mentioned before I did work in a pet store for several years and have had several advanced fishtanks so I’m no stranger to the level of care and research animals require. I am however very nervous about working with an animal I’ve not ever personally owned so I am interested in an easier option I am interested in doing something a little more unique than a ball or corn snake though (corn snake is the fall back but personally just want something a little different. The hog snake held apell due to its small size and the fact that it was a local snake but that’s not necessarily a requirement it was just a nice touch. Do you have any suggestions for something. That would be a good beginner snake without being the same as every other beginner snake i.e. basic pet store? Max size would be ideal for a 25 to 30 gallon but for now what do I have to have a smaller snake something to fit in a 10 gallon for the first year or so.

P.s. ultimately I would like to do a bioactive cage but figured I would need a basic understanding of the animal first.

[ItsCalligator]

My wife was telling be about Kingsnakes, and the videos and reading I’ve been doing make them seem pretty easy.