Minnesota Seasons - eastern hognose snake

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Luciearl

IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

N5 - Secure

S4 - Apparently Secure

Minnesota

not listed

Species in Greatest Conservation Need


	Description
	The underside of the tail is light, regardless of the color of the belly.

	Size
	20″ to 33″

	Similar Species
	Western hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus) underside of the belly and tail is shiny black.


	Habitat
	Sandy areas in floodplains, open woodlands, savannas, and prairies


	Biology
	When threatened it will flatten its head and hiss, like a cobra, or roll onto its back and play dead.

	Lifespan
	Up to 11 years

	Life Cycle


	Food
	Mostly toads but also other amphibians, small mammals, birds, bird eggs, insects, lizards, reptile eggs, other snakes, and carrion.


	Distribution
			Sources 4, 14, 24, 29, 30, 74, 76, 78.
	1/7/2023

	Occurrence


	Taxonomy
	Class	Reptilia (reptiles)
	Superorder	Lepidosauria
	Order	Squamata (snakes and lizards)
	Suborder	Serpentes (snakes)
	Infraorder	Alethinophidia
	Superfamily	Colubroidea
	Family	Colubridae (colubrid snakes)
	Subfamily	Dipsadinae
	Genus	Heterodon (hog-nosed snakes)

	Subordinate Taxa


	Synonyms
	Heterodon browni Heterodon platyrhinos Heterodon platyrhinos browni Heterodon platyrhinos platyrhinos

	Common Names
	eastern hognose snake


	Visitor Photos

	Share your photo of this reptile.
			This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.


	Melissa Strand




	Luciearl

	Nearly stepped on this hognose while walking on my trail.



	Anthony Soderlund




	Eastern Hog Nosebleed

	Seen it in a raised garden sunning itself.





	Carla Bergloff

	Rum River is 1/2 mile from me. I live in pines and found snake by rock pile. I did take a photo. Small size.





	CML

	In my yard



	Christa Rittberg

	Hognose snake observed in Wild River State Park.






	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

Camera


	Slideshows

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

	Share your video of this reptile.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.










	Other Videos


	Hognose Snake http://www.herpnet.net Joe Monahan

	About Uploaded on Jul 27, 2007 An eastern hognose snake bluffing. For the rest of the video see: http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/ Click on the Eastern Hognose species account



	Eastern Hognose Snake Playing Dead Orry Martin

	About Uploaded on Jul 10, 2011 Hello, My name is Orry Martin: The Texas Snake Hunter. This documentary is about the Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platirhinos). We already filmed a documentary about this snake this year but wanted to showcase one that would play dead. This did just that. Watch and enjoy his cuteness.



	Eastern Hognose Snake Orry Martin

	About Uploaded on Apr 25, 2011 My name is Orry Martin: The Texas Snake Hunter. This documentary is about the Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platirhinos). This is one of my favorite snakes in the world and warms my heart just to look at him. in my opinion, snakes do not get much cuter than a hognose. The last 3-4 minutes is extra footage of me trying to get him to play dead, but to no avail.



	Hognose Snake (Hisses and then plays dead) Eddie Carter

	About Uploaded on Oct 19, 2011 (Feel free to share or post this video.) This is for my nephew Blake Carter who is currently keeping a baby hognose snake. These are one of the neatest snakes. They mimic a cobra spreading out their necks. If you do not go away, they will eventually play dead. They will roll over on their back and stick out their tongue.



	Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platirhinos) EpochCatcher

	About Published on Apr 29, 2012 Fake-out strike at 2:53. By hissing loudly and puffing itself up/flattening its head, the eastern hognose snake can look pretty scary, but that's the point. Don't worry; it's not venomous. See more critters on my site: http://epochcatcher.com/. See more animals on my website: http://www.epochcatcher.com/ Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/EpochCatcher/332969490057757 Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochCatcher Follow me on Tumblr: http://epochcatcher.tumblr.com/ Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/epochcatcher/

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this reptile.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location.



Jeffrey C Manlove 8/21/2021	Location: Ten Mile Lake, Cass County



Melissa Strand 4/7/2021	Location: Isanti



Luciearl 8/27/2020	Location: Cass County Nearly stepped on this hognose while walking on my trail.



Anthony Soderlund 6/8/2020	Location: Sunrise, MN



Eastern Hog Nosebleed 5/16/2020	Location: Brainerd MN Seen it in a raised garden sunning itself.



Carla Bergloff 8/18/2017	Location: Isanti county, West Cambridge Rum river is 1/2 mile from me. I live in pines and found snake by rock pile. I did take a photo. Small size.



CML 8/14/2017	Location: Wyoming, MN He is in my yard. We have noticed many small toads in our yard so he will be well fed.



CML 8/2/2017	Location: Wyoming, MN, Chisago County In my yard



Christa Rittberg 6/9/2017	Location: Chisago County, MN Hognose snake observed in Wild River State Park.



Pamela Freeman 9/6/2014	Location: 3520 Cedar Creek Dr NW, Oak Grove, MN We found this snake coiled, feint striking, and rattling its tail in our yard. It was near a gopher hole. I picked it up to get a better look as its heard was very different from all other snakes I have known. I identified it as an Eastern Hog Nose snake from various online resources and a ID book. When I took it out to release it it played dead, turning its head upside down to show its underside. When I backed away a bit to give it room it slid away and along a rock wall where it disappeared into a very small hole, probably a mouse or some other small rodent hole.



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings