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What is the difference between Mexican and Western?

FireDrake

FireDrake

Scaled For Your Pleasure
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Could someone tell me the difference between a Mexican and a Western hog? I have seen many pictures of Westerns and only some of Mexicans, and they look just the same to me! I have seen one picture of a Mexican that had a lighter dusty pattern and colors, but other than that one, they all look the same to me!

If you could post pictures, that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Sarah
 
Nothing

A mexican hognose is a western , a plains hognose is also a western but a mexican hognose is not a plains hognose.
 
There is no western hognose per se. It's a misconception among hobbyists.
The western hognose is a group of snakes comprising the Heterodon nasicus species.
This species has three subspecies:

  • H. n. nasicus, the Dusty hognose
  • H. n. gloydi, the Plains hognose
  • H. n. kennerlyi, the Mexican hognose
The plains hognose is most common in collections, but there is no one specific species which alone can accurately be called a western hognose.
All three of those are western hognoses, but all three are different from each other.
 
Ok, that makes sense, now, what are the distinguishing characteristics of each snake that makes them different from each other? I have heard that Mexicans have bigger scales on their heads than the "westerns" but I have compared my Mexicans to pictures of a western I used to have and they look the same. Is it just where the snakes are found?

Thanks

Sarah
 
Well, first of all it should be noted that the validity of gloydi is disputed and many authorities no longer recognize it as there is not sufficient differences from H. n. nasicus to warrant a seperate subspecies.
That leaves the mexican and the plains. The primary differences between the two are in head scalation. Specifically the small scales that seperate the pre frontals from the frontal and the internasals from the rostral.
In the mexican subspecies (kennerlyi) there are normally between 2 and 6 of these scales, while in the nominate species there can be from 9 to as many as 28.
Mexicans also have slightly fewer dorsal blotches.
 
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