Mercury - Tricolored Hognose
 

It is my pleasure to introduce to you my newest addition, Mercury! He (actually, sex is unknown) is approximately 6 months old and currently weighs in at about 18 grams and 9.5". He was 7 grams when I got him in January. He is the cutest pretzel ever and I absolutely love him!

He has two small spinal kinks, which is why I was able to afford him, but he eats and sheds with no problem and I never plan to breed so he still makes a great pet snake.


This first picture is the older hognose that I met last June which convinced me that I absolutely needed one of these.
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And here is Mercury, who was hatched in October/November of 2015, and came to live with me in January 2016! These pictures are from January.
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Congrats! Tricolors are amazing snakes and that one is especially beautiful!

Thanks! I've never seen one with white in it's black scales like that.

Of course, I then did a search for tri's on here and came across your thread for your 2016 pairings, and now I want a green ratsnake too! I remember now why I had to take a break from this site! Hahahaha
I would love to have a green snake some day, but I'm thinking I might hold out on that until I feel confident enough to handle a taiwanese beauty. They look amazing and there's a breeder here who has them... but I don't think I'm quite there yet. Maybe in another couple of years. Or 5. Or 10. Haha

Just a quick shot I took of Mercy (I'm generally too lazy to use full names around here... Mercy is Mercury's short form) the other day when I had him out. He's 27 grams now, and I do believe he's gotten darker. It may be a trick of the light, I'll need to take some better pictures one of these days, but it appears that his white stripes are considerably reduced, and the black tipping on his orange is quite a bit heavier as well. I know the breeders I got him from do work with melanistic lines as well, so I wonder if he'll turn all black??? I hope not, but it's not really his color that drew me to hognose anyway, so if he does, it would be fine.

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Very nice!


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It's normal for them to blacken up at least a little as they age, though it can vary from just a little to a bicolor/nearly all black snake.

Thank you!

Oh, that's good to know! It's hard to find a lot of really good info on these guys other than your basic care sheet, which also vary a lot I've found. I really appreciate any extra tidbits like this from people who have them. :D

I actually had a choice between him or a "high contrast" baby, who was VERY bright, and I chose him because I like the dark look better. So in my opinion, knowing they tend to get darker just makes me like them even better!

So handsome!!! These are definitely on my *need* list someday in the future lol.

Beautiful snake! Ive had the pleasure of finding some eastern hognoses to hold for a second down here in nc. None as pretty as your baby though!

So beautiful. Amazing snake. Looking forward to updates!

It is frustrating to find info on snakes in the "other" category. Best wishes.