hai this will be about questions i have seen asked a lot or common answers to worries and concerns if there is any! this doesn't have to just about hognoses, but there are still possibilities
why is my hognose playing dead?
this is a defense mechanism! this can be seen in babies more often since it will be the first time seeing a human, but this isn't seen very often. hognoses hissing is more common. do not worry, you did not kill your snake, they are just very dramatic!
why is my male snake not eating?
if you are a first time handling hognose breeding and he just got out of brumation (putting a reptile to "sleep" [like hibernation] to get them ready for mating season), then he will not be eating. this is very much normal! just like many male animals, they will not eat and instead look for ladies to pair and lock up with
why do breeders remove eggs from their mother/parents?
there is many reasons to this!
mothers will refuse to eat because of how many eggs they have during their pregnacy(???), they will throw up any food they eat because it will not fit (see x-rays of snakes full of eggs and see why). because they haven't eaten for months, they can sometimes eat their own eggs! this is why many breeders will check on their hognoses so often, it is common for this to happen.
snake eggs will transfer heat to once another to keep a balanced tempature as they incubate in the wild. in captivity, there is another an incubator that many breeders will use to keep the eggs' tempature balanced, so there is no need to keep them stuck together.
there is also the risk of rolling the egg over whenever the hognose decides to not stick them togther (which happens a LOT, mothers do not stick eggs together). an embreo may have already attached to one side og the egg, and when the mother moves aorund, she can possibly roll the egg over and cause the embreo inside to form upside down and will have trouble getting out.
why do breeders cut eggs? and why is there blood when they do?
breeders cut eggs 24 hours after the first (or firest few) egg pips/cuts the shell. this is to let the snakes hatch all on their own. when they come back and see that a few still haven't pipped yet, then it will be time to make a small cut on the egg and leave an opening to let the snakes come out on their own. this will ensure that the babies will hatch as soon as possible and have a better chance at living.
there are blood vessels along the inside of the shell, so breeders may accidentally cut them when they make a slit on the egg. don't worry, they are not hitting the baby, but rather the vessels. this does not hurt the hognose!
how do i know if my hognose wants to start mating?
if you pair a hognose with another, then the male will be following the female all around the enclosure or whatever you may have/see them in). he will keep smelling her and may even start twitching (the hognose twitch). the female can eat the male, so please keep an eye on the pair unless you know that she will not eat him, or he will not eat her. the female will show interest by twitching as well, or by curling her tail. all of these signs tell the other hognose that it is also a hognose and they can mate without eating each other. if your female doesn't show interest, then don't worry, she won't eat the male anyways
why do some eggs expand while incubating?
eggs expanding during incubation is never a good sign. this means that the baby inside has stopped growing and absorobing the yolk and liquid. snakes dying during incubation is obviously not something anyone would want, however, as far as i know, it is unavoidable. it is bound to happen, and it is okay if some eggs do not end up hatching! snakes no longer developing can happen at any time, so do not worry.