How to Care for Hognose Snake Babies

Video Transcript

"After the forty-five to fifty-five days, the eggs will be very, very swollen. Right before they hatch, the baby comes out, you'll see a little tiny slit and embryonic fluid will start leaking out, that's the baby starting to work its way out of the egg. Baby snakes, baby reptiles have a little tiny egg tooth on the tip of its snout that helps it slice through that leathery shell. The snake will come out right away sometimes, but sometimes the snake will actually stay in its shell. Stick its head out, take a quick peek, and then go back into its shell, into the egg. That's completely normal, sometimes they stay in there for twenty-four hours or so. But they usually always come out of the egg. When the baby comes out you don't have to worry about it, it still has yolk still in its stomach, it's getting all its nourishment from that yolk it does not need to eat right away. Usually I leave the snake in the incubator for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Just let it relax and not stress it out. After that, I remove the snake; I put them each in their separate containers. Smaller snakes don't need a container this big, but this little pet container is fine for baby, or hatchling Hognose Snakes. I don't put any substrate on the bottom; I just want to keep it as clean and sterile as possible. I just use paper towel, put a rock in here for them to rub on to shed, a little piece of cork bark to help them hide and make them feel nice and secure, and a little tiny water dish. Now, you are not going to have to feed the snake until after its first shed. Again, feeding a Hognose Snake can be tricky, but if you go back, I showed you how to scent the food and make it a little bit easier."