Western Hognose morphs and genetics
A small, tidy gene set built around one classic co-dominant — Anaconda, whose super form is the Superconda.
Working with western hognose genetics
Western hognose genetics are compact enough to hold in your head, which makes them a good second species after corn snakes. A handful of recessives, and two co-dominants whose supers are the recognisable end of most projects.
Anaconda is the one that defines the species commercially: one copy reduces the pattern, two copies produce the near-patternless Superconda.
What makes this species different
Anaconda and Arctic are both co-dominant with named supers, and they combine, so a Superconda Super Arctic is a real and calculable target rather than a marketing name. The recessives — Albino, Axanthic, Lavender and Sable — behave conventionally and stack with the pattern genes, which is where multi-locus odds start to be worth calculating rather than guessing.
Every curated western hognose gene
Grouped by mode of inheritance. This is the dataset the HerpSync calculator runs on, published in full — the flags in the last column are what a standard Punnett square gets wrong.
Recessive (4)
Two copies to showNeeds a copy from each parent to be visible. One copy makes a het — an animal that looks normal and carries the gene.
- Albino
No melanin — pink/orange. Also called: Amelanistic.
- Axanthic
No yellow pigment — greyscale.
- Lavender
Lavender/pink ground.
- Sable
Darkening recessive.
Co-dominant (2)
One copy shows, two make a superOne copy changes the animal's appearance; two copies produce a distinct, usually more extreme super form with its own name.
- Anaconda
Super form: Superconda
Pattern reduction; Superconda is near-patternless.
- Arctic
Super form: Super Arctic
High-contrast; super is greyscale.
Breeding and incubation
Clutches incubate around 55 days at 28–30°C, and females are generally bred from about eighteen months at weight. Hognose are small enough that a rack of them is realistic for a hobbyist, and prolific enough that recorded clutch data accumulates quickly.
- Scientific name
- Heterodon nasicus
- Group
- Colubrids
- Reproduction
- Egg-laying
- Incubation
- ~55 days
- Maturity
- ~18 months
- Young are called
- Hatchlings in a clutch
Timings are husbandry-typical approximations used for projections and reminders, not veterinary scheduling. Every figure can be adjusted per workspace.
Try a pairing
Pick genes for two western hognose parents and see the full odds — per gene and per combination — with no account and nothing to install.
Common questions
What is a Superconda western hognose?
A Superconda is a western hognose with two copies of the Anaconda gene. Anaconda is co-dominant: one copy reduces the pattern, two copies produce the much cleaner Superconda. Breeding two Anacondas together gives roughly 25% Supercondas.
Track your western hognoses properly
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