After a calm winter brumation and a hearty post-brumation meal, it was finally time to kick off the 2025 breeding season with our western hognose snakes.
This year, we decided to pair our experienced female Bajsa with Albi, a pairing we’ve had success with in previous years. On March 3rd, 2025, we placed them together in Bajsas terrarium.
As always, there’s a level of caution when introducing a male to a female’s enclosure. Female hognose snakes are significantly larger and have quite the appetite, and there’s always a risk—however small—that a hungry female might mistake a smaller male for food. Bajsa is no exception; her appetite is strong, so we always monitor her initial reaction closely.
To reduce risk and observe her behavior immediately, we placed Albi directly onto Bajsa. Within moments, she gave the signature twitching motion that receptive female hognose snakes do when they are ready to breed—a great sign!
Now it was up to Albi. He usually takes a bit more time to warm up, and this time was no different. While we observed some interest, we didn’t witness a lock—which in reptile breeding terms means the male’s hemipenes have successfully entered the female’s cloaca, indicating mating is physically underway. It's the definitive sign that breeding has occurred.
After leaving them together for three days, we still hadn’t observed a lock. Of course, there’s always a chance it happened overnight and we missed it, but we decided to separate them for now and give them both a meal before attempting again.
A week later, we figured—why not give Hoggy, our other male, a chance? He had just come out of brumation and seemed in great shape.
We placed Hoggy into Bajsa’s enclosure and observed carefully. Bajsa, once again, immediately responded with that familiar twitch as soon as she touched him. But what truly surprised us was how quickly Hoggy reacted—he was ready to go almost instantly!
We left them undisturbed overnight and when we checked in the morning, we were thrilled to see a successful lock! It was a great start to his first ever breeding attempt. About an hour later, they had separated, and we returned Hoggy to his own enclosure.
So now we wait—with excitement and curiosity! It’s possible Albi and Bajsa did manage to breed when we weren’t watching, but the confirmed lock with Hoggy makes things interesting. Could the clutch be Hoggy’s first offspring, or will it turn out Albi was successful after all?
We’ve already given Bajsa a large meal with extra calcium supplementation, which is important for proper egg development. Over the next few weeks, we’ll monitor her behavior and body shape closely for signs of gravidity (pregnancy), and we’re already looking forward to the possibility of healthy little hognose hatchlings!
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