Questionnaire Background on the Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus) Breeders' Awareness of the Risk of Being Bitten.

Damian Zieliński

doi:10.3390/ani11123537

Abstract

Simple SummaryHeterodon nasicus is a popular pet reptile. It represents dipsadine colubrids, non-front-fanged snakes (NFFS) having Duvernoy’s glands situated in the temporal region, which deliver toxic saliva via modified dentition during swallowing even though they are generally not viewed as venomous animals. As shown by previous descriptions, handlers were bitten while feeding their snakes with bare hands or when the smell of food persisted on their hands after feeding. The results of a survey for hognose snake breeders showed that 47.7% (n = 41) of the respondents admitted that they had had a situation in which H. nasicus tried to bite them; it occurred during routine approaches to daily snake handling. These situations are definitely preventable using proper feeding methods and by avoidance of routine risky habits.Several cases of Heterodon nasicus bites producing various symptoms have already been described. In this paper, a survey was conducted among Polish breeders of this species, where 47.7% of the respondents admitted that their snakes had tried to bite them, and 31.4% fed their snakes with their bare hands. When asked whether they feared being bitten by this snake during daily handling, an overwhelming majority of the respondents declared (74% of total negative responses, n = 63) that they were not afraid of being bitten. Based on the popularity of H. nasicus as a pet animal, it can only be assumed that the magnitude of accidental bites is much greater than that reported in published case reports. Therefore, it is important to try to educate pet breeders to report such cases and pay attention to the use of appropriate handling methods during contact with snake food and during feeding.

Highlights

The western hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus) is a very common species on the exotic pet market [1,2]
The other questions were as follows: Is the Heterodon a venomous animal? Has your Heterodon ever tried to bite you? Have you ever fed it with your bare hand? Other questions with answers assessed with the use of a 5-point scale (1-strongly not, 2-not, 3-not sure, 4-yes, 5-strongly yes) were asked: Does the Heterodon pose any threat to humans? Do you fear being bitten by the Heterodon snake during daily handling? Three open-ended questions were asked: What precautions do you take to avoid being bitten? What would you do after being bitten by a Heterodon?
47.7% (n = 41) of the respondents admitted having had a situation in which their H. nasicus snake tried to bite them (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

The western hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus) is a very common species on the exotic pet market [1,2]. It represents dipsadine colubrids (Dipsadinae) [3], i.e., non-front-fanged snakes (NFFS) having Duvernoy’s glands situated in the temporal region [4]. There are few reports of western hognose snake bites, but the chief symptoms are edema, erythema, blister formation, and ecchymoses. Despite the high popularity of this species as an exotic pet worldwide, only few bite reports have been published (Table 1 and [9]). Based on the popularity of H. nasicus as a pet animal, it can only be assumed that the magnitude of accidental bites is much greater than that reported in published case reports. It is important to try to educate pet breeders to report such cases and pay attention to the use of appropriate handling methods during contact with snake food and during feeding

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Results

Conclusion