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KJUN
Snakehaven |
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KJUN
Snakehaven |
| Western Hognose Snakes |
| For almost all of the below hognose projects, we are
working with a good friend, Graham Criglow. Credit goes where
credit is due, and many of these animals are his that he allows us to
virtually combine with our few hognose snakes to make one larger, better
managed, hognose colony. Without Graham's influence, generosity,
and animals, our work with hognose snakes would be greatly reduced to
almost nothing. On this page only, whenever we say "our" or "we",
I generally mean Graham and ourselves (or his and our animals) combined.
Western Hognose snakes, which are often just referred to as hogs, have to be one of the cutest looking snakes that adapt readily to captivity. They are easy to breed, quick growing, cute as a button with their little upturned nose, and their short little hisses when frightened only add to their appeal! Being smaller snakes, even a large adult easily fits into a 10 galloon aquarium-sized cage, and it is only a are male that needs anything even that big. These snakes are very sexually dimorphic with the male being much smaller, on average, than the female. This means you can decide on the SIZE cage you want to have, and purchase a male or female accordingly! There aren't many snakes you can do this with. Many babies accept unscented pink mice right out of the egg (which is a trait we try to improve through selective breeding), and all older animals are voracious feeders on mice once switched over. Due to their stocky, sausage-shaped, body. They can easily eat meals that look like it should give them trouble. This in no way implies that hognoses should be powerfeed too often or meals too large for them. With regular feedings of appropriately-sized meals, hognoses can easily breed at 18 months (the males can frequently breed sooner). These are just great, very robust, pet snakes that appeal to many people and are forgiving of many minor husbandry mistakes! Some rare people are hypersensitive to their saliva (which is potent to help them subdue their natural prey, toads), so care should be taken to keep fingers out of their mouth - especially at feeding time. |
| Western Hognose (Heterodon nasicus nasicus) - Albino |
| Albino, or amelanistic, hognose snakes are generally hognoses with pale to white backgrounds and pale yellow to light yellow (or slightly orange) blotches. This simple recessive mutation is the one that caused hognoses to explode in popularity - with just causes. Now that the prices are getting in a range where many hobbyists can acquire them, I expect albino hognose snakes to stay popular for a long time to come! Our colony consists of an albino, a definite het, and some possible hets to make sure that we have as much genetic diversity in out lines as we can. This also means we are lucky enough to be able to produce a wide assortment of different looking offspring! |
| Western Hognose (Heterodon nasicus nasicus) - Anerythristic / Axanthic |
| Anerythristic, or axanthic, hognoses are basically a grey and black hognose that doesn't "muddy" up with age like some other anerythristics snakes! These are still extremely rare in captivity, and are going to be an investment quality animal for years to come. Even though they are very beautiful in their own rights, they are more important for what that can become when combined with albino and hypos: snows and ghosts, respectively! Our colony consists of a definite het albino male and a possible het female. Fingers crossed that we can prove this girl out. |
| Western Hognose (Heterodon nasicus nasicus) - Hypomelanistic (Casey Lazik line) |
| Western Hognose (Heterodon nasicus nasicus) - Pink Pastel Albino |
| Hypomelanistic hognose snakes, or "hypo hogs," might
actually be a unique form of albinism, or even a possibly T+ albino, but
was originally called hypomelanistic when produced. These are
richly colored, dark-eyed, hognoses that approach, if not exceed, the
albinos in the beauty department. Although still rarer than albino
hognose, they are catching on quickly for many reasons. One main
reason is that thy are necessary in the production of a "ghost" hognose
of even a potential "sunglow" like hognose! Our colony consists of
a hypomelanistic female and a LARGE group of
possible hets purchased from Casey Lazik.
All of our Hypomelanistic hognoses are possible het for Pink Pastel. Pink Pastel Albino hognose snakes is a separate like of albino hognoses that has pink, instead of yellow, blotches. This bloodline may or may not be allelic to the more established line of albino hognoses. We'll test that if we are lucky enough to have any pop out of our colony! |
| Western Hognose (Heterodon nasicus nasicus) - Normals |
| Normal hognoses are still going to be a staple in the pet trade because they are so darn cute and adapt so well to captive environments. Out CB gems are usually by-products of our other projects, so there is a good chance that they are possible hets for one or more of the genes we work with. Regardless of genetics, these are the perfect pet hognose if that is what you are looking to acquire. Due to the diversity of hognose in our colony, we are lucky to be able to offer a wide range of looks in the normal hognose we produce! |