Western Hognose Snakes Love FISH (Part 1)

Feeding some of my Western Hognose Snakes. A few get Tilapia fillets as a treat!
EDIT
These videos were down for a while so that I could research the cause of the pinworm infection in nearly all of my snakes and Coccidia infection in 3. I was afraid the nearly raw fish was the cause but have recently confirmed that this could not have been the source as both Pinworms and Coccidia are species specific.
Contaminated water or fecal matter containing the parasites' eggs are the only vectors for transmission.

[@aliciavives4240]

Thank you for the very thorough and quick response. This helps alot.

[@Angry_Hogs]

awesome! I like how you make your snakes go after their feed.

[@_STKR_]

Oml those are BEAUTIFUL Hognoses! I was thinking o f getting a hognose and now this makes me want get one more!

[@Hogstrictors]

Really cool video of feeding fish to hognose. My two hoggies are really good feeders on pinkies but id like to to tilapia just to mix it up and give them different nutrients. Thanks for the video!

[@sabrinab.7957]

Beautiful!!! 😍🥰

[@joshharris3040]

Did you ever figure out why Gabi's mouth was bleeding?

[@Justin.HeterodonHome]

She's been fine since. The only thing I can think of is that she might have strained too hard when swallowing the meal. They have delicate blood vessels in their mouths that can bleed when they're stressed or if you poke around in the mouth too much. It's not dangerous for them, they can even activate the bleeding on command when they think a predator is after them.

[@aliciavives4240]

Where can i find a snake rack like yours?

[@Justin.HeterodonHome]

The snake rack in this video is a VE-6e from Reptile Basics. The little "e" stands for Economy and means that you save on the price of the rack by saving on materials. The sides of the VE-6e are open as opposed to traditional racks that have solid sides. This means that they aren't insulated against heat loss and drafts/cold. That isn't really a problem for me since the room my snakes are in is heated via central air, but it is something to take into consideration. You also can't use the separately sold casters with the VE-6e since the supports necessary to secure them in place are absent. I had to modify mine to use the casters and it was a royal pain in the kazoo. The racks from Reptile Basics are all fantastic and I highly recommend them. Unlike other rack builders, shipping is free on orders over $100 (snake racks always are) and there is no wait time. If you see the rack listed on their website that means it's ready to ship right away, no waiting for them to build it like with everyone else. It does ship unassembled, but the instructions to put it together are very well written and it only took me about 45 minutes to do on my first rack (I didn't read the instructions and had to take it all apart... it should really only take 15-20 minutes tops, lol.). In general, I would now recommend the regular VE-6 over the VE-6e because the savings just aren't as good as they were back when I first got the rack. Whatever rack you choose, the tubs are sold separately so don't forget to purchase those as well with your order.

[@davidbrown-55]

Great snakes. Are they gd for beginners? Can you explain the poison on hognosed snakes? Thanks

[@Justin.HeterodonHome]

tl;dr: Research whatever you plan on getting even if it is claimed to be a "beginner" animal. Most bites are not medically significant and you can avoid all problems by removing them promptly by lifting up on their rostral scale and unhooking them (don't yank them off, remove them gently). I don't believe in beginner snakes. Whatever you start with if you don't research it first then chances are you will run into problems, not know how to deal with them and feel as if you've been fooled by people claiming that a particular animal is a good "starter." With Western Hognose Snakes one of the most common problems is that they can go off of food for extended periods of time. This doesn't necessarily mean that they are sick, just that something has caused them to lose their appetite. That can be anything from how much light they are exposed to in the day (their photo period), barometric pressure combined with the time of year (typically it rains more in their native range just before winter which signals a seasonal change), temperature change or if you changed something in their enclosure that they just don't like. Each snake is a different individual so there is no one size fits all solution. Most people, myself included, get stressed out when their pets aren't eating and it's a learning process to know when to leave your snake alone so that they can acclimate to changes on their own. As for the venom that hognose snakes have, I can't give you a chemical breakdown or anything like that. I can only tell you that some people react differently to others and there is no way to tell how your body will react until it happens. The thing to remember is that hognose snakes don't have a developed venom delivery system, they have to chew the venom in and it takes a while to get going. If you remove them promptly then chances are you will be unaffected and see no lasting effects to the bite area. The key thing is to no let them chew on you for a long time. You can remove them easily by gently lifting up on their rostral scale (their upturned scale just under the nose) and "unhooking" them from your skin. They don't bite defensively and most bites are the result of a feeding response. If you're concerned that you may receive a bite then one thing you can do is to rub hand sanitizer onto your fingers and palms which will deter a bite since they hate the taste and it causes a burning sensation in the mouth.

[@sandeescyoc7006]

Great video, what is used in the sand box?

[@Justin.HeterodonHome]

50% play sand, 25% coco fiber and 25% Reptisoil. It keeps the humidity well and some of them spend all of their time inside.

[@sandeescyoc7006]

@@Justin.HeterodonHome perfect, thank you!

[@johnreeves6854]

Have never given my hognose snakes fish had no clue I recently picked up a new baby hog so fill me in on i fo for fish do I just get tilapia from. Grocery store and unfreeze it cut little pieces so wanna try it out thanks for the info and video

[@Justin.HeterodonHome]

I get my Tilapia from the grocery store at the meat counter. You just cut off an appropriate sized piece with the maximum width being about the size of their head. I would recommend steam cooking it since the fish can carry parasites. The parasites shouldn't be the type that infect snakes but just to be on the safe side, I would steam cook the fish for about 5-10 minutes. I used to drop the fish in 115 degree water and let it sit for 20 seconds but apparently that's not enough heat or time to kill off any potential harmful organisms.

[@johnreeves6854]

@@Justin.HeterodonHome thank you very much for reply and Def good info will give a try and let you know thanks again beautiful snakes also

[@aliceaiken3162]

Your hognose snakes are so cute.

[@Justin.HeterodonHome]

Thanks! I think they're all adorable.

[@fajarrahmanasution6714]

Y

[@loveydovey4566]

Dixy is a good looking girl 😍❤

[@Justin.HeterodonHome]

She's a cutie for sure.