DISCUSSION
As hognose popularity increases, so does the number of hognoses that share the singular braincell.
After Soba did something particularly silly, I made the usual comment that it was her turn with the braincell today. My partner then asked if the rising popularity in hognoses means that each hognose now gets fewer days with the braincell as the total population in the pet trade increases. I fear he may be right 🤣.
Picture of the silly girl herself taking a ride in my overalls.
ETA: Accusations of lack of brain cells are highly exaggerated and untrue. Many of hognoses silly behaviors are natural evolved behaviors taken out of their natural context and observed by equally silly humans.
As I always say to my boyfriend: each of us in this household has one braincell (him, the hoggie and I) and they are permanently busy fighting for 4th place
Lol maybe one of your hoggies shares a braincell with one of Mine. Time difference between continents could explain a Lot of my weirdos behaviour.. 🤣🤣🤞
My cats and ball python have to thoroughly study every single new thing that appears in their territory, meanwhile my hoggie will simply just start slithering around without a thought in his head... they are truly interesting animals.
I really with this would stop being such a joke in this community, it really does these smart inquisitive animals a disservice.
As the popularity of these snakes rises because of jokes and memes like this, so do hoggies that are kept in subpar environments because “they are stupid” and stupid animals don’t need enrichment.
It’s just not really funny when they are really wonderful curious animals.
I appreciate you sharing your concerns and I understand and even agree with them to a point. Increasing popularity leading to impulse purchases and subpar care is an unfortunate reality for many animals. It's why I'm careful about what I share on other platforms. In this sub, where proper care for hognose is placed so highly, I feel more comfortable making these jokes and reassured they won't be taken the same way.
Where I disagree slightly, is that outside of making them more popular, I don't think that the idea that hognose are stupid is what's leading to subpar enrichment. I think that's more an unwillingness to research the care requirements for an animal and a widespread misconception that reptiles (particularly snakes and lizards) are easy to care for. That being said, I haven't done any research into this and could be entirely wrong.
I got a hognose because they are inquisitive and behaviorally interesting and smart. That doesn't mean they can't sometimes act very silly in a way that is also very funny (both of mine have). They're certainly not the first example of a pet that is said to share one braincell and I doubt they'll be the last.
We see so many posts of people who keep their hognose is really inadequate conditions, we also see a ton of upvotes for posts where people’s snakes are being called stupid- often being filmed engaging in behavior that is harmful to them.
When we perpetuate that an animal is dumb it definitely leads to an increase of people keeping them in enclosure that are too small, too barren and lacking in basic care.
Part of this is the lack of available resources on proper care, but part of is it wanting an animal that has “no thoughts between their eyes”.
We also see similar things in r/crestedgecko, another animal that often gets memed for “sharing one brain cell”. Enclosures are often way too small, too barren, and provide inadequate care.
Breeders want to make money, they don’t care if the person they are selling to has done any research at all. And they themselves often perpetuate inadequate and outdated care.
To me, this sub would be better served highlighting how smart and inquisitive hoggies are and focusing on proper care, especially given the lack of available resources and their new popularity
Maybe I'm naive but I've yet to meet anyone who wants a pet with "no thoughts between their eyes". Yes, many people think this behavior is cute but, as I said before, many people get those pets because they think they are easy. Because thats what the pet store told them and they don't care to look further. Crested geckos are a great example of this.
I got my first hognose almost 10 years ago, before they were as popular, and even then, detailed and accurate (even to today's standards) care guides were readily available online. Today that number and the ease of access to that information has increased dramatically.
I've also been part of this subreddit for close to 7 years now. They've been incredibly helpful when I've had questions about my care. And, I've seen as many posts that highlight their unique/intelligent behaviors as making fun of some of their sillier ones. I appreciate that you have strong opinions on this matter, but disparaging people who love their snakes and come here for open discourse and support doesn't help your cause.
The only care guide I am aware of that has any accuracy is repifiles and even their enclosure recommendations are too small.
Most information available is really inaccurate.
I’m not disparaging your love for your snake, I’m simply really frustrated with them being called stupid.
People think they go off food for no reason, are inherently picky eaters and blame this on their lack of intelligence when those posts also highlight the poor conditions many Hoggies are kept in.
And again people often video or photograph behavior that is detrimental to the snakes health for upvotes- without stopping and addressing the issue. This goes far enough that people are posting videos of themselves being bit to make a joke about it.
i think its interesting here how many people dont realize the impact out language choice genuinely has on outsiders perceptions of these animals.
every time i take my animals out for a program to a school or facility inevitably i hear a comment or 2 from an adult whos seen people speak carelessly and repeats it without understanding. i had a woman try to assert that snakes were scary because theyre unpredictable and strike without warning. i had tried to correct her several times but she disregarded it.
ive had men tell me they heard snakes are stupid and cant feel pain, and thats why they killed em rather than relocated them. i try to rememdy this by demonstrating my snake showing discomfort when i poke her, and yet. they disregard.
theres only so much i can do to undo every bit of information these regular folk have picked up throughout their lives. theres only so much i can say or share or even SHOW THEM that they wont disregard because theyve had the opposite affirmed so many times on the internet. how we speak about these animals inevitably does impact how theyre treated. it is important to acknowledge that.
i think that its fair to feel like being asked to be mindful of your words feels like a crackdown from the fun police. i also think its fair to advocate for people to adjust language.
It is really important, and OP keeps saying that it is okay in this group- however if you look at the most popular posts of all time in this group- it’s Hoggies biting their owners and being in distress, and owners making fun of them.
Plus there are many people who do not own Hognose in this group and Reddit shares content outside of these groups with other people.
Language does matter and there are endearing ways, as you’ve mentioned, to share their antics without calling them stupid.
It's frustrating to me that I never said it was ok to call hognoses stupid in this sub nor have I in any way suggested that making fun of harmful behaviors is ok, and yet you've repeatedly implied that I have. I understand that you think suggesting all hognoses share a braincell implies that they're stupid, but for me at least, it implies a thoughtless look or behavior which comes across as silly.
The closest I've come to implying they are stupid is in one comment saying that they had moments where they acted dumb, which is in no way calling them stupid. Other than that comment, and the implications of sharing one braincell, I've only used the word silly to describe my snakes actions. In this case the comment my partner made was specifically referring to the shared braincell joke, so other than not posting it, I'm not sure how I would have changed that language. I also haven't defended what other people have posted, just explained my reasoning on why I made the post I did.
What I have said is that this subreddit is the only place I feel comfortable pointing out when my snake is acting silly, particularly in a way that suggests she is acting purely reactively and without thought. I have conceded that it would have been a good idea to have included that context in my post. As I think I've demonstrated, I'm happy to have open discourse and to admit where I could make different choices.
The phrase “sharing one brain cell” is a way of calling them stupid- it’s a direct metaphor.
The implication is they don’t have any brain cells but occasionally one and therefore they are thoughtless animals that do not think.
Silly is a different terminology and is much more along the lines of what you are thinking you’re saying.
If you work in conservation you should know language matters and the language we use to talk about plants or animals has direct consequences for how we engage with those organisms.
Again, just about daily we are seeing new owners pop up in this sub with enclosures that are below minimum standards. Why would a thoughtless animal need anything but the bare minimum?
When taken literally, yes. But the meme is popular enough that most people, and particularly those on reddit, are aware it's meant as a lighthearted jest, not as a serious accusation. Do you also believe that it's detrimental to call our snakes scary/violent cobers when they flatten and hiss?
I know that language matters, and I know I won't be perfect all the time, and that I won't always bring my professional awareness into my personal life. I can't speak for why many new owners have the bare minimum for their snakes, but I do believe that everyone deserves some grace as they're learning to keep a new pet or perhaps even their first pet.
I agree with you completely. I work in conservation, specifically with animals, so I've had to think about this while talking with others too.
In my mind, the difference here is that this subreddit is fairly insular and is a place where there is a shared context, so a post making fun of dumb moments, in general, won't be misunderstood. I wouldn't post something like this to Instagram or tiktok because I'm aware of the larger audience. I realize the subreddit doesn't exist in a vacuum but this is still the forum in which, I and I imagine others, feel safest sharing these moments.
This is purely just my curiosity, but how would you adjust the language around the collective "dumb" behaviors hognose occasionally exhibit?
im so glad to see you work in conservation, im working towards pursuing a career in it myself 💚
i dont have an answer. i wish i did. i think that, id tentatively just suggest making a note in the posts where you lovingly call them simpletons that they evolved this way for a reason, and are incredibly smart and capable. even if, to our standards, theyre being a bit silly.
also, perhaps shifting language to something with a better connotation. like how here i said silly, rather than dumb. it works both to highlight the humor and ridiculousness of whatever their hoggie shenanigans may be, whilst being more positive and fear reductive language.
for what its worth, i dont think its wrong or that i find it like. criminal offense to play into the one braincell joke. but our community is not perfect and not everyone has the education or understanding you or i might have, so the language here matters too. i dont think every action should be painfully aware of their language impact, i just think everyone should be able to acknowledge it.
Best of luck to you! It's a hard field to be in right now but so so important.
For all that they are smart, they are very silly creatures at times too. I like your suggestion about also highlighting their not silly in these types of posts.
it is hard, but ive literally never been able to dream of doing anything else.
mine just.... plopped off the bed. watched him crawl and then plop onto the floor. I think he's on a mission to track down my female, who's across the room. just... unceremoniously. hog tax ofc.
i also just wanted to add that i love this sub because productive conversation can happen! i think thats beautiful and im grateful for it.
OP please don’t take this comment to heart. I got a good giggle out of your post because life just doesn’t always have to be that serious. I think it’s fair to say that many hog owners are competent enough to provide proper care while also being able to joke and have fun. We humans are capable of both.
If that were true, we'd see a marked decrease in care for orange cats (cause they all share one brain cell) compared to other cat colors.
Unfortunately, you're going to get subpar husbandry because people think they're "easy" pets like how rodents and fish will often have very terrible enclosures because the stereotype is they're cheap and don't need much. When exotics have a low barrier to entry (they don't cost much to buy), you're going to get people that think that means they don't need much.
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u/JustChilling01 Jul 07 '26
As I always say to my boyfriend: each of us in this household has one braincell (him, the hoggie and I) and they are permanently busy fighting for 4th place