I know i always post art content, but I've just gotten some incredible new life stuff happening and I wanted to share it with the internet because, well, it's really cool!
A few content warnings for snakes, as well as mentions of animal breeding (in a scientific context).
OK with that out of the way, l (as some of you may already be aware) absolutely love snakes, l've wanted to be a snake breeder since I was 5 years old. It's essentially my life goal. I especially love hognose snakes, they're easily one of my favorite species! I've had a big female hog named Petunia for a few years now, and every year she lays an infertile clutch of eggs. I haven't been ready to breed her in previous years for a variety of reasons.
This year however, I noticed during the winter she was staying on the cold end of her tank, sleeping the whole time, refusing food. She had brumated herself without prompting! This was interesting enough as is, but once she woke up a few weeks ago for the spring, I noticed she was... weirdly restless. Constantly surfing glass, exploring every inch of her tank 24/7, just frankly very odd behavior. I checked her temperature, all good. Humidity, all good. She eats great so I know it wasn't a hunger thing.
Then I realized- there wasn't anything wrong with her. She was looking for a male snake for mating season! (Pictured below is her watching me after a meal since she wanted more food... lol)
The problem? I didn't have a male hognose of breeding age + size for her. So she'd spend another year without a boy.
Usually, this would be where this story ends. Uneventful.
But, as you can guess that's not where it ends.
A few days ago, I happened upon an ad of someone rehoming their reptile collection. In that collection was a healthy adult male hognose who had just woken up from his brumation cycle...
He was reasonably priced so l just decided "fuck it" and reached out. I was driving to pick him up that same day!
Enter: Borat, the male Hognose. First step was to weigh him in to make sure he was big enough to breed. He was 2 years old, 1 year past the minimum breeding age, so I placed him on my kitchen scale… fingers crossed…
65 grams! He was breeding size!
Usually I’d wait about a week before even attempting to feed a new addition to my collection. However, given the ticking timer and the fact I was informed he was an amazing eater, I just decided to try feeding him the next day. Just to see.
He took his meal instantly! Great!
So, the next step was to introduce the 2. The most nerve wracking part of this whole process… snakes are territorial and fighting can occur. Cannibalism is also a rare, yet present threat. Or simply disinterest in one another. This could make or break this pair. So, the day after their meals after having time to digest, I put Borat in with Petunia, holding my breath as I watched them meet…
It went great! They took to each other near immediately, Petunia doing the breeding twitch and Borat smelling and following her. Now I just had to wait until I saw the first lock, probably a few days…
Well, that’s what I would’ve said if they didn’t start locking and mating within 30 minutes of their first meeting.
Some educational photos of what a Hognose snake lock looks like!
That was about 24 hours ago. They mated for 6 hours and are still housed together, and will be until I can confirm at least 2 more locks.
So, that’s my little life update! I’m currently prepping for eggs and getting ready to care for a clutch of baby hognoses. I’ll try to post updates as this story progresses!
(And, to quell any worries, no he is not too small for her. Male hognoses are, on average, anywhere from 1/2 to 1/3 the size of a female hognose. Since she has acknowledged him as a sire, she will not attack or eat him.)
Some bonus pics of Petunia and Borat snuggling under their heat lamp in their cork tube as a thank-you for reading this far down! Because you know what’s cuter than 1 hognose? 2 hognoses! Cuddling!
(Yes I know that they’re just kleptotherming but yk what it’s still cute)
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