🐍Eastern hognose snake
The eastern hog-nosed snake is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Colubridae. The venom is specifically adapted to amphibian prey and is harmless to humans. However, some people may have an allergic reaction and as a result experience local swelling and other symptoms. The species is endemic to North America. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid. This species prefers habitats with sandy soils and a combination of grass fields and forest edges. It comes in many different colorations and has the identifiable upturned "snout." It can be found in captivity, but is a relatively difficult species to keep due to a specialized diet of toads. As with other Heterodon species, it has a distinctive threat reaction of first bluffing by striking with a closed mouth and then, if this fails to deter the threat, pretending to die.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2007.
- Body mass
- 0.6 kg
- Body length
- 1.16 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 9.1 years
Everything we know about the Eastern hognose snake
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass0.6 kgrecord 0.24 kg · ReptTraitsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: questionable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Body length1.16 mmaximum recordedReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan9.1 yearsrecord 15 years · ReptTraitsAnAgeDetails ↓Hide ↑
data quality: questionable
Record: largest individual on record
Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0
Activity cycleDiurnalReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
VenomousYesReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
Snout–vent length0.66 mmaximum recordedReptTraitsDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: ReptTraits · v1.2 (Oskyrko et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l0.6 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Eastern hognose snake yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classSquamata
- ›familyColubridae
- ›genusHeterodon
- ›speciesHeterodon platirhinos
- superorderLepidosauria
- orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
- infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
- genusHeterodon
All 12 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- orderSauria
- superorderLepidosauria
- orderLizards & snakes · Squamata
- infraorderSnakes · Serpentes
- genusHeterodon
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