Keeping eastern hognoses

I am debating getting eastern hog. I have 4 westerns 1.1 het and 1.1 albino, 2 hog islands boas, 2 dumerils boas, 2 rosy boas and 3 abbotts okeetee corns. I am not new to snakes, there is just very little information on the eastern hogs on the net. I know they do better on toads but in arkansas I could collect them and C02 them like rats and freeze them to kill parasites. Has anyone had any luck switching to FT toads. Also just wondering how is their temperment in captivity. I am also having a hard time finding a CB specimen. I have seen some WC but don't want to infect my collection with mites and parasites. I could just catch one before I paid for a WC. So if anyone knows a breeder that would also be helpful. Thanks in advance for any helpful information.

Your chances of finding a cb Eastern Hog is almost slim to none. I only know one. Guardian reptiles has Eastern Hogs. I have westerns and i use to have a southern. Good luck with everything. By the way i caught the southern hognose.

Thanks I will check out Guardian. Prices seem pretty steep for wc snakes. I suppose if I can't buy one I will keep one of the ones I find.

Have not heard back from guardian, so if anyone know of any breeders let me know. Thanks.

Not an expert, but a good friend of Guardian Reptiles, I'll regurgitate some of what I know from them;

You definitely want to take any WC hog to a vet to be dewormed. Eastern hogs in particular have always been among the trickiest to convert to a f/t rodent diet, or even a f/t amphib diet. They also have sensitivities to common medicines for other herps, like panacur or baytril. This, combined with the fact that in many states of their range, they are protected, is why there is not a lot of info out there on them. They rarely acclimate to captivity, and the few dedicated folks that can keep them alive are, well, just that; few and far between.

To be honest, I don't know anyone off the top of my head who does breed eastern hogs with any consecutive success, because of just the task of acclimating and maintaining specimens to maturity is a daunting challenge within itself.

One trick on converting hogs to more conventional prey items is scenting with the residual "juice" from tuna fish cans. After many parasitic issues with even f/t toads, this method is the one that Guardian Reptiles employs with their tricky feeders.

Another trick Ive heard is to grind up aquatic turtle food into powder and use that to scent as well.
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Hope that helps some.

Thanks you for the tips. I did hear back from Guardian yesterday afternoon. She was having computer problems and didn't get my first message. I had no idea they would be hard to keep in captivity. I figured frozen thawed toads would eliminate any parasites. Thats also why I wanted to find a CB to get a good start with a parasite free animal.