Western Hognose snakes are one of our favourite types of snakes. They’ve got great personalities, which are entertaining and affectionate, especially once they’ve matured. One of the questions often asked is what do hognose snakes eat. In this article, we’ll look at their wild and captive diets.
What Do Hognose Snakes Eat in the Wild?
Western, or Plains, Hognoses is a widely distributed snake in North America. They can be found in southern Canada throughout the US, to Northern Mexico. It can be found in all kinds of environments from sandy/gravel soils, river floodplains, grasslands, semi-deserts, and even on farmlands.
The species can sometimes be found as high as 8,200 feet above sea level.
Their habitat is perfect for amphibians, which they tend to feed upon in the wild, especially tree frogs, toads, and perhaps small lizards. It is not unheard of for the Western Hognose to eat a rodent in the wild, but it is rare.
Unlike most other snakes, the hognose is not a constrictor. Instead, they tend to charge prey down, bite on them, and then chew them to death. While chewing they release saliva from their rear fangs that help to break down toxins in their prey.
What Do Hognose Snakes Eat in Captivity
In captivity, an amphibian diet has not been easily achieved. With advances in care, there are some amphibian diets now available, but most breeders don’t use these as they can be expensive for owners and sometimes are still rejected by the hognose.
Therefore, hognoses tend to be fed on a rodent diet, especially frozen/thawed mice. Western Hognoses can do very well on these diets. They can be fed about one mouse, of the appropriate size, every week and will be very healthy.
Watching western hognoses eat can be very interesting as they keep many of their wild behaviours. Most snakes try to eat a rodent prey item by eating lengthways, typically eating the heat first. However, hognoses can sometimes try to eat their prey from the middle. It can sometimes take them some time to work out how best to eat the prey item.
One of the big issues with captivity is that getting hognoses to start feeding can be challenging. Often prey items need to be scented. This can be done with either salmon or tuna.
Hognoses, from experience, can also be very greedy feeders. They will typically try to eat more than they can digest, which means owners have to be careful about feeding routines.
Final Word: What Do Hognose Snakes Eat
Hognose snakes are an excellent species of snakes, with a great appetite. A rodent diet, fed once a week can be the best way to keep them happy and healthy. At DJL Exotics, we feed frozen thawed mice which allows for steady growth for the individuals.
