Western Hognose Breeder

I don't know what's up with Pogo and Clefarious this week. Both of them have been doing barrel rolls in their poop necessitating a rub down bath of sorts. Took the opportunity to get some pictures and video of Pogo after I had scrubbed her off. Clefarious is in shed so no video of him today. Gotta love Hognose snakes...

Reupload of the August 2022 Michigan Reptile Expo video for enhanced sound. Due to a work related injury I've been free to waste my time (and money) by going out and videoing my local Reptile Shows. This Expo, held at the Taylor Town Trading Center in Taylor Michigan on the 2nd Saturday of every month, was pretty buys and held a few surprises. Keep an eye out for the escaping Burmese Python, the cute Western Hognose Snakes, the sweet Black and White Tegu, and a lot more. Hopefully the audio quality is improved in this version. Thanks for watching!

My oldest living female western hognose Alys gets some outside time as a reward for finishing off her medicine and testing negative for Coccidia. She still has nasty pin worms inside of her but they aren't life threatening and I can deal with them at a slower pace. She and the 9 other hognose snakes that tested positive for Pin worms will be getting treated all at the same time to hopefully avoid reinfection.

Checking in with Clefarious my Male Savannah Western Hognose Snake. Other than the shedding issue he seems to be doing quite well. He eats every time food is offered and his cleft lip doesn't seem to be bothering him. #shorts #hognose #westernhognose

Just a quick peek in on Pogo my Savannah Western Hognose Snake. She's been doing great and looking fantastic. She still has a slightly fiery attitude though. #shorts #hognose #westernhognose

Drove from Michigan down to Fremont, Ohio to visit the BRM Exotics Expo on the last Sunday of the month. This is the busiest I've seen it in a while. Sadly no hognose snakes but there were a lot of cool displays. All of the vendors were very friendly and willing to talk about what they are all about. Kinda wish I had recorded more of the conversations but I wanted to keep the video time down.

Cinder and Pookey are back from their visit to the Vet and now have meds to hopefully combat their coccidia and pinworm infections.

Cinder and Pookey are waiting to see the Vet. Hopefully we get some medicine to deal with their parasite infections.

Shortened form of my video with Klatuu shedding her skin on me. I wish this girl was still around. She was gorgeous.

Checking on a few of the Western Hognose Snakes that I had to relocate to the basement for their own safety. Surprisingly less cranky today despite the colder temperature.

Quick video I did showing how I give Alys her medication. She hates this stuff! #hognose #westernhognose #sick #coccidiosis #vetmedicine

With all that has been going on it's taken me a long time to get this video out. Since recording the sequences for this video I have had all 13 of my hognose snakes fecal tested and 2 additional hognose snakes came back positive for coccidia. Coccidia by itself would have been bad enough, but my vet also found indicators for the presence of mites in 3 of the fecal samples and one of the snakes had both Coccidia and indicators for mites which can spread the disease from snake to snake. Coccidia is a family of parasites that are usually species specific. Before this diagnosis I was unaware that Crypto is in the coccidia family. I have yet to send out a fecal sample to a lab to test for Crypto but Alys did previously come back negative on 2 previous tests. If this infection is a recent one, and I suspect it is, this could indeed be Crypto which would possibly mean an end to all of my snakes who are not in quarantine. What time I haven't spent working has been spent stripping down the racks and enclosures to treat for mites. There is no effective treatment for Coccidia which is not also toxic to the living environment. The only solution for me is soap and water as well as baking the decorations that can take the heat at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Everything porous that cannot be baked has been thrown away. Alys is still gaining weight, although very slowly, and is in a hospital tub separate from everyone else. She has been given Panacur to deal with her pinworms and 5% Albon to hopefully clear up the Coccidia infection. If she does have Crypto though, no known medication will be able to clear the disease and she will most likely pass away if left alone. There are labs performing tests on live Crypto infected colubrids so I may donate her if she and the other 2 test positive in the coming weeks. It would be devastating for me though after the loss of Klatuu. I wish I knew the source of the coccidia but after recording the video and having a spare moment to think I came up with several more possibilities that may be the source. First, the nearly raw tilapia is a possibility, since coccidia is originally a water bourn parasite that, while not able to infect the fish, can use them as a vector for transmission to their intended hosts. I also baby sat a bearded dragon last winter that later tested positive for both Coccidia and Pinworms in the spring. Unfortunately I didn't connect the dots and left the temporary tank that she was housed inside in my room and I do know that Alys in particular came into contact with it at least once before I removed it. Another possibility is from yet another baby sat pet, this time a Blue Tongued Skink. I let her owner convince me to let her run around my room while her tank was cleaned and she proceeded to crap all the way around the outside of the room while dragging her belly though it. I did clean it all up and vacuumed the room, but coccidia cannot be killed with most chemicals. Only 10% ammonia and Steam above 200 degrees Fahrenheit can kill the parasite and its oocysts which can remain in the environment for up to a year. Ammonia is deadly to inhale at 10% and turns into a vapor after a while so it should only be used in well ventilated areas, which my room is not. Cheap steam cleaners rarely get up to the temperature necessary to kill coccidia and the ones that do work start at upwards of $1500. This is going to be a long process so I'm not sure when more videos will follow. Maybe I'll ditch the intensive post processing and just upload raw video for a while. #coccidiosis #westernhognose #hognose #sick

Had the footage for the next video recorded for a while now but I’ve been in panic mode trying to save my snakes’ lives. Not sure when it’ll drop but it should explain the situation.

Demi does this thing every day where she digs at the roof of her bin until I come let her out. She's a smart and curious cookie. Featuring: (A Western hognose snake) Demi - Arctic Toffee Conda; Bred by Jason Taylor; Very Curious; Loves to climb everything; comes out from hiding every time I open her bin; gets excited when she sees fingers because it might be food; stops short of chomping fingers because she's a smart cookie

I had 3 frozen mice left in a bag and so 3 little hognose get to eat early. Featured: (All Western Hognose Snakes) Cinder - Female Sable; Bred by Dan Eby; Likes to come out but likes food more Lady - Female Evans Hypo Conda; Bred by Smith Reptile Co.; bad attitude on a daily basis; does not like being touched, even by other snakes; queen of her kingdom now get out and leave the poop Morticia - Male? Female? Normal (Possible Arctic); Bred by *Redacted*; fine with hands, hates human faces; likes to explore, but not with you; NOT MY SNAKE; Still baby sitting

Feeding my two baby Savannah Western hognose snakes their first meals while in quarantine. Also talking about an issue I discovered with the male and my decision not to breed him in the future because of it.

I just received a pair of Savannah Western Hognose snakes from Predators Reptile Center. According to the store these babies were imported from Europe and produced by Filip Longhitano. I contacted Filip directly and he informed me that the Savannah is a new true hypo recessive gene. Not many breeders in the States have this morph or are keeping a tight lip on their projects. To date, I have only seen pictures of the Savannah morph online and not much information about it is available aside from what Filip himself has said about it. From what I have seen, the Savannah gene reduces pattern slightly while enhancing contrast. The background is typically a light color similar to Mocha but the saddles nearest the head stamp are ringed by a halo of even lighter scales. To me, it almost looks like the head of the snake is crowned with a light lace that hugs the darker markings. They only get better with age as well. I'm not sure if I'll try to make straight Savannahs 3-4 years from now or if I'll try to create het Savannahs with a few of the other morphs that I have at the moment. Whatever happens the future looks a little more exciting for me now. Both are in shed so I can't wait to see what they really look like in the future! To date, I have not seen any video of the Savannah morph online other than what Filip himself has posted on Facebook with his breeding projects. I expect we'll see this new morph pop up in the US and Canada within the next 1-2 years as I find it hard to believe no one else has jumped in on this earlier than even I have. Obviously Predators Reptile Center, a Store within the continental US, had them before I did so there must be more out there.

Feeding some of my Western Hognose Snakes. A few get Tilapia fillets as a treat! *EDIT* These videos were down for a while so that I could research the cause of the pinworm infection in nearly all of my snakes and Coccidia infection in 3. I was afraid the nearly raw fish was the cause but have recently confirmed that this could not have been the source as both Pinworms and Coccidia are species specific. Contaminated water or fecal matter containing the parasites' eggs are the only vectors for transmission.

Feeding some of my Western Hognose Snakes. A few get Tilapia fillets as a treat! *EDIT* These videos were down for a while so that I could research the cause of the pinworm infection in nearly all of my snakes and Coccidia infection in 3. I was afraid the nearly raw fish was the cause but have recently confirmed that this could not have been the source as both Pinworms and Coccidia are species specific. Contaminated water or fecal matter containing the parasites' eggs are the only vectors for transmission.