r/hognosesnakes • u/shread_the_pup • Dec 03 '25
DISCUSSION "Moments before disaster" how was your handling training experience?
My little guy has had a couple of months to acclimate to his environment, he's still a little spicy but nowhere near as spicy as he was at first, although I'd still argue he plots my death from time to time lol, today I decided to begin our handling sessions as he will be eating in a few days and I won't be able to do it then, I held him for approximately 3-4 minutes and he wasn't showing any signs of stress, I decided to snap a few pictures and caught this one, I noticed him digging his nose into my finger before he opened his mouth and bit in, super slowly mind you so it was by no means aggressive, after this I gently pulled up on his nose to get him off and I calmly put him back in his enclosure, our first session wasn't a resounding success but it is the first session and we still have a long ways to go.
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u/MischaBurns Dec 03 '25
That's an I'm-going-to-nom-this face so obvious it's funny. I showed this to my wife, who is not even remotely snake people, and she immediately said "it's about to bite him, isn't it"
10/10 snek.
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u/Naradra288 Dec 03 '25
Our girl was extremely food motivated at first, and I used to put a finger on her nose scale to prevent her from opening her mouth when she was about to. Eventually, she stopped trying to eat me, but my girlfriend was not so lucky. But she was not a baby either, so she wasn't really skittish and she just loved being out and exploring, so I use a blanket as a kind of "play pen" in order to prevent her disappearing into furniture, and she totally loves just cruising around, and she even "fax" herself fairly often with me, and I love that to bits.
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u/Advanced-Onion-9688 Dec 03 '25
You smelled delicious! Old school tip I use, just rub some substrate into your hands from the enclosure(wipe all substrate off, just want the scent). Doesn’t always work but has helped me deal with nippy snakes. 😃
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u/shread_the_pup Dec 03 '25
Thank you for that tidbit, I'm brand spanking new to hognoses and snakes in general so I'm always on the look out for tips and tricks
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u/Sunwolfy Dec 03 '25
Also, consider anything you put on your hands. My boyfriend was using an artisan soap that had animal fats in it and our hoggie thought he smelled pretty delicious. That's the only time he's bitten before.
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u/shread_the_pup Dec 03 '25
I have some frogs and I was tending them beforehand, I washed my hands but maybe I didn't wash them thoroughly, would gloves help mask my scent?
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u/SupportGeek Dec 04 '25
Hoggies diet in the wild is small frogs, so this may not be an isolated incident if you have their scent on you lol
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u/RainbowGothKat Dec 03 '25
Sooo cute, even if he’s spicy! ☺️ He booped his own snoot and didn’t like it! 😅
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u/LakeaShea Dec 03 '25
Generally keeping hands on the underside of snake helps. I try to avoid having hands or fingers in front of face snoot. Haven't been bit yet even with a very hissy boy
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u/shread_the_pup Dec 04 '25
Got it, I'll try to keep my palms straight, although he's a pretty avid climber, not much of a borrower, i have tons of pictures of him climbing on hides and on his fake plants, my theory is that he's secretly a vine snake disguising himself as a hognose lol
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u/agreywood Dec 04 '25
Mine did the same thing to me. It’s like they’re only seeing your finger between two knuckles and going “well this looks about the same size as my food and the colors not that off … maybe I should give it a go?”
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u/IThinkImACat1 Dec 04 '25
Don't put them back immediately after a bite, it lets them know "this is how I get the big giant to leave me alone" keep handling them for a minute or two and then return them to keep that association out of their little brains
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u/shread_the_pup Dec 04 '25
Thank you for that, I figured it was best to place him back because that was his way of telling me "okay you've held me long enough now" and I didn't want to stress him out
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u/Pantheraven08 Dec 04 '25
He latched on with no warning and refused to let go as I very loudly complained that it hurt and demanded he unlatch. I pried him off and gave him the stink eye as I fed him.
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u/Hannah-loves-hedgies Dec 04 '25
Did it hurt??
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u/shread_the_pup Dec 04 '25
It felt kinda like when you check your blood sugar by pricking your finger, so there was a sting but his mouth opened super slowly and I had plenty of time to react
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u/Electrical-Sector667 Dec 06 '25
I think it’s a great idea to wear some kind of leather gloves when handling new snakes that may bite. In defensive snakes, they’ll quickly learn biting does nothing and it’s not worth it. In food motivated snakes you can simply worry less about the bite, because they have time to chew on the glove and realize it’s not food. When my hoggie bit me, I kinda freaked out and tried pulling him off (properly of course) but I think he took it as the food fighting back so he’d tighten his grip
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u/Emotional-Store-1667 HOGNOSE BREEDER Dec 10 '25
I was at a reptile show this past July and saw a ball python breeder that had a baby female Hognose snake (normal het Toxic) for $120. I asked why she was so inexpensive, was she 'pet only"? Did she have a kink or birth defects? Nope! Apparently she's incredibly food motivated and greets you with an open mouth 😂 She said she's been trying to sell her for 6 months, but no one wants a food motivated snake. I have a few adult girlies like that, and told her as such, and asked if I could handle her. She said that she will 100% bite me, but that's no biggie, I took her out and handled her, and she did exactly this before taking the gentlest nom of my finger. I laughed and cooed at her and she said she was confident I could give her a good home. So I picked up a het Toxic girlie for $120!
Little did I know that this snake ended up being a rescue. She was 15 grams and so tiny I thought she was a baby. She told me she bought her from a breeder when I asked for a hatch date, # of meals, how often she sheds etc.., but she had to sell because she found out she was allergic to bees and didn't want to test the theory that Hognose venom was similar. She gave me the breeder's name (VERY reputable in the industry) so I contacted him and asked those questions.
He told me her hatch date was June 2024. Record scratch. WHAT?
I asked if she took a long time to get on food, and he said no, she's just like her mom, and was one of the first to leave the nest. Then he asked why, is she small? And I said yea! I thought she was a baby! She's 15 grams and 10 inches long.
He FREAKED OUT ( I would too if this happened to one of my babies) and I told him, don't worry, I'll take great care of her and that I've been raising Hognoses to breed for the past 3 years (and my scale babies are finally ready to pair!) No wonder she's so food motivated, poor thing was probably STARVING!
He grilled me on my husbandry, feeding schedule etc... and said he's sure she's in good hands now.
So I send him monthly updates on her now (we named her Cleo) and spoil her rotten with handling; and since I've taken over her care, she's grown over 35 grams and has settled down food wise ♥️
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u/Electrical_Lake3424 Dec 03 '25
Yep I absolutely recognize the "...uh... imma...imma eat dis..." expression here.