Eastern hognose snake
species of reptile
The eastern hog-nosed snake (Heterodon platirhinos) is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake in the family Colubridae. The venom is specifically adapted to amphibian prey and is harmless to humans. However, some people may have an allergic reaction and as a result experience local swelling and other symptoms. The species is endemic to North America. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid. This species prefers habitats with sandy soils and a combination of grass fields and forest edges. It comes in many different colorations and has the identifiable upturned "snout." It can be found in captivity, but is a relatively difficult species to keep due to a specialized diet of toads. As with other Heterodon species, it has a distinctive threat reaction of first bluffing by striking with a closed mouth and then, if this fails to deter the threat, pretending to die.
Geographic distribution
Heterodon platirhinos has a wide geographical range from the central United States to the East Coast. In the northern parts of its range, it can be found in southern Ontario, southern New Hampshire, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of reptile. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2699564. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Eastern hognose snake” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.