Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus nasicus)

Western Hognose Snakes are a small stout snake, rarely exceeding three feet in length. They have an upturned snout particularly well suited for digging. Wild specimens will sometimes roll on their back and fake seizures and finally play dead, though this behaviour is rarely witnessed in captive bred specimens or wild specimens that have been kept in captivity for any substantial length of time.

These snakes do have a toxin in their saliva which they use to subdue their prey, though they rarely ever bite humans. When bites do occur, it almost always is a feeding response. The toxin in their saliva is not dangerous unless you have an allergic reaction to it, though I have never heard of such a reaction. Typically the hand just swells a little. If a bite does happen, drop a few drops of Scope brand mouth wash in the snakes mouth and it should let go rather quickly, without causing injury to the snake. Dunking the hand and snake in a bucket of water will sometimes also work, but not always.

While human bites are rare, hissing and strikes are somewhat common from some individual snakes. Every strike I have witnessed though is all bluff, the snake never actually opens its mouth and has no intention of actually biting.

Females tend to grow considerably faster and obtain a larger size than males.

It should be noted that some people seem to think these snakes require a diet of toads to live healthy lives. That seems to be true of at least some lines of the Eastern Hognose Snake. The Western Hognose Snake, however, does fine for its entire life on a diet of rodents.

This page and its contents except for portions otherwise noted are ©2008 Michael A. Peters.