Malagasy Hognoses.

[lvl0rg4n]

Hello. I am the new owner of a Malagasy Blonde Hognose, who goes by the alias of Dr. Jones (From indiana jones, big hero and all.). I have had almost zero luck on finding information about them. I had my heart set on a W. hognose, but unfortunately there were only 2 at the show I went to, one was a snippy female, and the other was a red albino for 1500, but my oh my was she beautiful. Anyways, I saw Dr. Jones and I fell in love. I talked to the man who sold her, and he said that the care was basically the same for both snakes (w. hognose and malagasy). I was just wondering if you all could give me some information about them that differs from W. Hognoses.
Also, I fed Dr. Jones last wed. 2 pinkies. (He is about 3 1/2 feet, and the guy said he was only feeding him 1 hopper every 2 weeks.) Last night my step sister touched his face, tryiing to look at his nose. Now he has never been snippy in the 2 weeks I've had him, but he opened his mouth at her. Now, I thought they weren't really biters. I guess I am wrong, or he's just got a little ass on him. Anyways, I took him back to his cage and he got really jumpy and kept opening his mouth. I left him alone until this evening when I placed him in his rubbermaid and fed him another pinkie. He ate it with zeal, so perhaps he was just mouthy because he was hungry? Any comments.

[Evil Elvis]

The guy that gave you the info is an idiot, they couldnt come from more differrent climes. I keep mine on a sphagnum moss peaqt mixed with humid sphagnum moss and orchid bark, they have a humid hide boxes too. I have a pair of babies that are feeding but i have just aquired a pair of adults that are having none of it. You are very lucky to have him feeding for you.

A word of warning!! I have been tagged by one of these hogs, a hatchling, my ring finger and pinkie finger went numb for 2 days, so i expect an adult bite would be more severe!!!!!

They are also not a good hog to handle, they stress easily, that is what yours was doing, stressing out, if you want a snake to handle i suggest you get a western! :hehe:

[lvl0rg4n]

Oh my. Thank you so much for replying! I feel so horrible that I am stressing him out. I feel like a bad owner! But now I know so I won't bother him anymore.

I told the guy I was a beginner and that I wanted to make sure it was good for beginners. He was like "yeh, yeh".

The strange thing is, though, he was pretty chilled for the first week. I had him out starting for about 5 minutes the second day, 10 minutes the third day, so on.

Honestly, do you think perhaps I should sell him (or trade him) to a better owner? Or not better, persay, but more experienced? I don't want to make him suffer or anything. (By the way in his cage I have papertowel, about 4 layers on the cool side and 8 on the warm side, substrate, 2 hides, a dogfood bowl filled half way with water {He doesn't like it, though} and a little twig thing, which he's too big for, but I thought maybe he'd like it for when he shedded).

About the eating- He's a very good feeder! The guy had him on live hoppers, and at first I fed him a f/t but he wouldn't touch it, so I read about "Scenting" and I rubbed one of my beardies down (giving him a good bath afterwards) and he immediately ate it. He also ate another. Then I fed him last night 2 more pinkies, which my dad later told me was too much, so I felt bad, but he seems okay.

Thansk for your reply!

[Evil Elvis]

I dont think you need to get rid of him unless you really want to.Why not set up a natural looking viv and keep him in there, a few nice branches a log hide and a substrate like i described above. If you want a snake that is really handleable get a corn, westerns can have thier moments too.

By thew way, thanks for the beardy tip, Ill try that NOW! :hehe:

[lvl0rg4n]

Well, my brother has a kingsnake, so I don't want another worm snake. Do you know of any good caresheets, because like I said, I can't find anything. What are the typical prices of blondes/goldens? I paid $40 but I don't know if I got hosed.

I really like him, I just dont want to stress him or anything.

The beardie trick words well. Just make sure you give your beardie a bath afterwards, or use a piece of shed (none of ours were shedding at the moment).

Thanks!

[Evil Elvis]

I tried the beardy rubbing trick on rat pups....didnt work!!!! tried by new guinea blue tongues too, and frogs! Perhaps fish next!

$40 is very cheap, i paid about $500 for my pair!!!!

[lvl0rg4n]

I've decided that Dr. Jones is best with me. I think he will be fine. He's coming out of his hides now more. Today he sat straight up for about 30 minutes. Good times!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v461/lvl0rg4n/60817369407_0_ALB.jpg

[Evil Elvis]

Nice looking snake mate, glad you decided to keep him. :hehe: