Western Hognose Snake

It is technically mildly venomous but poses essentially no danger to a person. It has no front fangs; instead it has enlarged grooved teeth at the rear of the upper jaw, and a gland behind the eye produces a secretion that helps it overcome toads, its main prey. Because the venom-delivery teeth are set so far back and the snake almost never bites defensively, human bites are rare, usually occurring when a keeper's hand smells of food, and the reaction is limited to localised swelling, redness, and occasionally mild blistering that resolves in a day or two. There has never been a serious medical outcome from a western hognose bite.

It is a last-resort defence for a slow, non-venomous snake that has already tried and failed to bluff its way out. By going limp, upside down, mouth agape, tongue lolling, and smeared with foul musk and sometimes a little blood, the snake presents itself as a rotting, unappetising carcass, and many predators lose interest in prey that is clearly already dead and possibly diseased. The behaviour is stereotyped and somewhat inflexible — a hognose "playing dead" will insist on lying belly-up, and if you turn it the right way round it immediately flips back over, which rather undermines the illusion but shows how hard-wired the response is.

They are separate species with the same basic look and the same theatrical defence. The western hognose, Heterodon nasicus, lives on the dry Great Plains, stays fairly small at 40 to 60 centimetres, has a strongly upturned snout, and specialises heavily on toads. The eastern hognose, Heterodon platirhinos, lives in the sandy woods and fields of the eastern United States, grows larger, up to about a metre, is more variable in colour including plain grey, olive, or black individuals, and has a slightly less exaggerated snout. There is also a rarer southern hognose. All of them hood, hiss, and play dead, and all are harmless.

For an experienced keeper, yes; for a first snake, with reservations. They are small, calm, active by day, and undemanding in space and heat, and the death-feigning act is entertaining. The catch is feeding — hognose snakes evolved on toads, and while captive-bred animals are usually started on rodents, some individuals are stubborn and will only take prey that has been scented with toad or amphibian, which means extra work. A well-established captive-bred hognose from a reputable breeder that is feeding readily on mice is a rewarding pet; a wild-caught adult or a non-feeding hatchling is not a good starting point.