Ssssnakes are Happening!

So, I think I may be in love with hognoses. A few months ago, I picked up a Plains Hognose snake (previously known as the Western Hognose), and she was wiggled her way into my heart. Her cute little snoot, the adorable hissing and bluff strikes (which has abated with handling), and the fantastic spotted pattern, she has become my favorite real quick. (sorry Pinky and Peaches! I still love you!) Madame Peppercake is absolutely part of my family now.

Peppercake peaking out of the aspen bedding

When I realized how much I loved her, I thought, what if there were more of these adorable danger noodles in my life? So, I attained a second one, this time a boy which we named Tamale. I figured that with a pair, that could potentially lead to more adorable nope ropes in the future. Thus my plans for breeding hognoses have arisen! I have never bred any reptiles before, although considering my love for reptiles, it's amazing I hadn't considered it in the past. However, I am ready to take the plunge. I have been preparing so that either in 2022, possibly 2023 if things don't work out, my significant other and I will be attempting to breed plains hognose snakes!

Tamale climbing Sofa Everest

Currently, we have just the one pair of hognoses but we are looking to see if we can find a second female. We have some specific breeding plans in mind, so we're being kinda picky with the snakes we are starting with. And also I have limited funds to work with, so I'm trying to make it count. My hopes are to have at least 2 females to start, at maximum 3 females, to mate with Tamale, our main stud. He's got the albino and conda genes, and he's part of the extreme red line trait, so we're going to be aiming to enhance the red trait in any of our breeding projects.

Male tricolor we are hoping to acquire

However, it doesn't end there! When I say that I fell in love with the hognose snake, I really meant all of them. Obviously, the plains hognose is probably the best known one, since it does the whole bluff strikes, hissing, and playing dead, while also being very handleable. But, we are also going to be branching out into a lesser known species, the tricolor hognose.

Female tricolor that is coming in later this week!

These are a completely different species of hognose found in South America but have a lot of similar care requirements to the plains hognose. They have striking red, black, and white bands across their body to mimic the dangerous coral snakes that are also found in that region. Not to be confused with milksnakes, these are definitely hognoses, complete with upturned snouts that help them burrow. These cannot be mixed with the plains hognoses at all. We are currently working to aquire a breeding pair that should be ready for next year as well. Morphs are less known in the tricolor species, so there will likely be a lot of experimentation and surprises as we enter into that world.

Peppercake and Tamale side by side.

All in all, there are a lot of hognoses in our future. For now, we are doing prepwork to make sure we are ready to handle all the babies when it is finally time, and all of the adults when they grow up. I will be documenting some of that journey on my blog, and I will also start putting out more blog posts to outline hognose snake care in general, in case any of you are considering getting a hognose yourself. I will also be sure to document the differences in tricolor and plains hognose care, handling, and other quirks, simply for the purpose of education.

I hope everyone is excited as I am. Let me know in the comments what you would be most interested in learning about these awesome snakes. Take care and have a sssafe Memorial Day!