Fairly New Hognose Randomly Bites

Hello lovely people,

So I adopted a male yearling Hognose at the Atlanta Repticon this past July. The breeder warned me he was a bit huffy and liked to hit people with his nose, but had never bitten anyone before. I fell in love, and promptly named him Grump.

When I started handling him, he would put up the scary cobra act and hit me with his nose right when I opened his tank. I wouldn't attempt to pick him up until he calmed down. These past couple of weeks I'd have him out and he's be calm, and then all of the sudden I have a snake hanging off my finger while I got the mouthwash out.

I've started leaving old socks or tshirts in his tank to get him more used to my scent, I'm just curious as to why he's started to be all bitey now?

Thanks!

Bonus picture of my poor chubby finger. This happened today

Cause that is what they do Just keep handling slowly, gently, patiently and make sure he is getting enough to eat and your husbandry is correct.

He's a pretty thing!

Originally Posted by LauraB

Cause that is what they do

That is kind of misleading as you make it seem like it is common for hognoses to bite. It's actually pretty hard to get a hognose to bite and close to impossible unless it has a feeding response for some reason.

That being said were you handling anything before trying to hold the snake that may have had the snake think it was dinner time?

Everytime before I handle him I wash my hands thoroughly with unscented dish soap. However it is possible I missed a spot.

His tank setup is in an exoterra 24x18x12in terrarium. There are two hide hides on either side of the tank, a plant, and a ledge on the hot side. There's usually ~4-5in of aspen shavings (I'm always impressed with his tunnel system). The hot end of the tank is heated with a uva basking bulb (there's also a heatless uvb bulb), on the substrate it's 85 degrees, and on his ledge it's around 89 degrees. The cool end of his tank stays around 72 degrees, depending on how hard my a/c is running that day. There's an under tank heater for nighttime that I have set to 75 degrees since it gets extremely cold in my apartment.

Grump is a great eater, so I lucked out there. He eats a rat pinky about every 5 days.

I'm starting to get suspicious that he is smelling my Pyxie frog across the room, which could be getting him all agitated. I'm considering moving him to another room, I'm just a bit reluctant since my bedroom (room both critters are currently in) is the warmest.

That would be one heck of a feeding response if you ask me, but then again I have never seen the feeding response of a hog when it smells frog/toad. I'd still be really surprised if that is why your hog bit you though. Your setup isn't perfect according to what the majority of hog keepers have, but once again I'm not sure that would cause your hog to bite you. I'd expect him to stop eating if that was a problem to him.

Was this the only time he bit you or is this something he has done multiple times? How often do you handle him?

May I ask what I could change about his setup?

I handle him for about 15-30 minutes everyday, barring 48 hours after he's eaten.

He gotten me twice before, he usually would let go on his own but this last time he chewed on me for several minutes before I finally caved and pipetted some mouthwash in his mouth.

Originally Posted by supersmach

May I ask what I could change about his setup?

I handle him for about 15-30 minutes everyday, barring 48 hours after he's eaten.

He gotten me twice before, he usually would let go on his own but this last time he chewed on me for several minutes before I finally caved and pipetted some mouthwash in his mouth.

Sure I will just mention a few things I know many do differently and possibly you could change to see if it helps. All the thing I am listing are possible things that could be stressing him out, but I don't know if they would cause him to be nippy. All these things I'd expect to send him off feed if anything. That being said changing some of things may not make him stop biting, but could improve his life in different ways so they are still worth a try if you want.

1) First thought is I would try to hold him less. Every day can be stressful for some snake and not that stressful for others. This could be especially true if he wasn't handled much before you owned him. I have one hognose that doesn't like being held so for her I just hold her on occasion so she is somewhat used to it. Also if you are holding her on feeding day she might be getting a false connection that it is feeding time and he gets too excited.

2) If he uses his ledge your warm side temp is technically fine at 90F. However I would almost keep his heat pad on during the day(assuming also on warm side) so he doesn't feel forced to be out in the open just to get his desired temp. It could be causing him uneccessary stress. Also I find that any snake I have ever owned enjoys the cuddly warmth of belly heat.

3) Something I might try to change is his nighttime temps. Right now you leave a hot side of 75 and the ambient sounds like it is less than 70 due to A/C. I don't like the sounds of an ambient sub 70 and I always like giving my snakes a choice. I know a lot of people if they do alter nighttime temps they do 85 warm side and 75 cool side. I personally don't change my temps at all. All my snakes are at 90/80 24/7. Now mind you I don't breed and I have no idea if dropping temps has any positive effects. If it was me if bump up the warm side to at least 85 and add a second heat pad to give his cool side a night time temp raise too.

4) A second heating pad could also help his daytime temps too. 72 is a bit low in my opinion for his cold side and it should be in the high 70s minimum.

5) Tank size *could* be too big or the glass could be effecting him. It is possible your tank is too big and causing him to stress out. It's also possible he doesn't like the glass if you got him from a breeder where he wasn't used to glass. I had a snake go off feed once and this is why. When in the bigger glass tank if she saw me she would freeze and not move feeling vulnerable. If your snake is doing this it could be an issue. Any hognose I have had typically comes to greet me(probably looking for food) and then moves around despite me being there. As long as he looks comfortable I wouldn't worry about this as it appears you have a beautiful setup.

6) Maybe an off the wall idea, but instead of using non scented soap use something with a strong scent. Possibly some flowery hand sanitizer. It may not want to bite something with a funky scent it knows isn't food. If he still bites you at least you would know it probably isn't a food response and instead a defense bite.

7) Another idea I will throw out there that some may disagree with is to just pick him up and not wait for him to calm down. I personally don't understand the logic of waiting for the snake to calm down. I feel like you are just sitting there for a long period of time with the snake all stressed out and getting worked up. I just go in, grab my hoggies, and they are instantly fine once in my hand. If anything it is worth a try.

8) You could also try only picking him up when he is sleeping/at night. With all my hoggies the have times when they are less crabby. Sometimes if they seem super crabby I just won't holy them. I also like snagging them when they are sleeping because then I can almost always have them in my hand before they even know it. Then i will avoid the hissy show all together.


I know that's a lot, but hopefully you find something helpful that could better your snakes life and hopefully get him to stop biting. Good Luck!