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FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
Hognose snake (Heterodon genus) of order Squamata, family Colubridae is the collective name for all species of the family. This is the largest snake family to exist with hundreds of genera in it. They get the name because of their upturned snout. The eastern hognose snake is also called puff adder because when it feels threatened, it acts like a cobra by raising its head. Hognose snakes are endemic snake species in North America. Although a large number of subgenera are present under the Colubridae family of hognose snakes, most of them have similar patterns in habitat preferences. Hognose snakes used to exist in large numbers but now are threatened by human activities. If you are interested to know more about the different species of hognose snakes, then continue reading these wonderful western hognose snake facts, and eastern hognose snake facts.
Check out the articles on green anaconda and rattlesnake facts too
Hognose snakes are all the snakes that belong to the Colubridae family and genus Heterodon.
Hognose snakes are reptiles with upturned snouts. Hence, they belong to the class Reptilia.
The overall population of western hognose snakes is fewer than 100,000 but it is not evaluated in the case of eastern hognose snakes.
The different species are found in various parts of North America. For example, the eastern hognose snakes (Heterodon platirhinos) are distributed in places like eastern and central Minnesota, Canada, southern Ontario, Wisconsin, southern Florida, western Kansas, and from west to east in Texas. The range of western hognose snakes extends from northern Mexico to southern Canada and from Colorado in the west to Illinois in the east.
The most preferred hognose snakes habitat includes areas with sandy soils. The reason behind choosing sandy soil is that they can dig burrows to search for food. Other than that they are also found in North American farmlands, woodlands, prairies, and coastal areas.
Single hognose snakes are found alone in burrows while in captivity they live with their masters.
In captivity, hognose snakes can live for a span of 15-20 years while in the wild they live for nine-19 years.
Male snakes approach a female to mate by scent marking. They reproduce by internalized fertilization. The western hognose snakes mate between February to March June and August while the eastern ones mate between April to May April and July. The former ones lay fewer eggs than the latter.
Both species the eastern hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos) and the western hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus) are enlisted as species of Least Concern by the IUCN Red List.
The upturned snout helps hognose snakes to dig into the sand to find food. The colors in hognose snakes vary a lot. Some of the common colors that are observed in different species of the snake are yellow, brown, and black. Sand-colored species have black and white markings on its body. The upper jaw contains strong teeth also known as rear fangs. Female eastern hognose snakes have a tapered tail which has a blunt end in the case of males. The female tail is also a bit longer than the males.
Among all snakes, hognose snakes are a bit different looking because of their upturned snouts. This is also a reason for being a favorite cute morph of so many people.
The snakes mainly communicate by hissing. They raise their head and neck before hissing. This phenomenon of raising the head and neck has gained them the name puff adder.
The eastern hognose snake is longer than a western hognose snake. The length of the former is around 17.7-41.3 in (45-105 cm) while the latter's length ranges from 14.2-36.6 in (36-93 cm) from the head to the tail.
Hognose snakes crawl with their body to move and they rarely swim. They can move fast or slow according to their choice and do not have any particular speed range.
The western hognose snake's weight varies from 2.8-12.3 oz (80-350 g) and the eastern hognose snake also weighs under 1 lb (453.6 gm).
The species of hognose snakes do not have any specific name for the males and the females. All of them are called hognose snakes.
Like all snakes, the hognose snake's babies will be called snakelets.
The favorite meal of hognose snakes is toads. They also eat other animals apart from toads like frogs, mice, eggs of birds and lizards, and bugs. They catch toads, frogs, and others animals using the rear fangs.
Hognose snakes are not harmful so they are taken to be nonvenomous. Mild venom might pass if bitten.
They make excellent pets among the snakes. Hognose snakes are playful and good companions.
Hognose snakes are diurnal in nature.
The practice of playing dead is also a very interesting feature about them.
The eastern and the western hognose snakes show very little dissimilarity. Some of them are like differences in their ranges and eating habits. The eastern one can perform thanatosis (playing dead).
Hognose snakes are easy to handle and handling a western hognose snake is one of the easiest. These picky eaters will easily adapt to the domestic environment once they start eating regularly. Hognose snake bites are also painless and only result in scratches.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other reptiles including the frilled lizard and the coral snake.
You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one of our Hognose snake coloring pages.
https://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/hetpla.htm
https://www.britannica.com/animal/hognose-snake
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hognose
http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_hognose_snake.php
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
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