Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am familiar with corn snakes and king snakes, and somewhat with rat snakes, but I am very interested in trading in my corns and kings, and buying some bulls or pines...

I have heard the temperment of bull snakes is pretty bad, what about pines? Can anybody give me some ideas on this?

Thanks.

If you are interested in an animal that is aware of the surroundings in which they live, pits are indeed a step up from the corns, kings etc of the world. I keep all of the above, but the pits espicially the bulls, deppei deppei, deppei jani and northerns pines are special to me. As far as temperment yes pits can be more hissy than a corn or king, but the animal we use for scout and school programs is a 7 1/2' albino bull and a 7' yellow Texas bull that are dog tame. As a juveniles they were really pissy, but as they aged are the most trustworthy of all our snakes. With a little handling and understanding most pits can easily become trustworhty pets.

John Cherry
Cherryville Farms

Pits have an undeserved reputation for being nasty. A wild bullsnake will put on a much more imprssive show than a wild ratsnake for sure, but the captive bred ones are much calmer. Most pet store owners/employess I talk to relentlessly assume that my bullsnakes are wild caught. Then they seem almost offended when I explain they are captive bread! I'm in Oklahoma and from what I've heard bullsnakes are really common around here although out of the hundreds of snakes I've come across never ONCE have I seen a bullsnake in the wild (or a rattlesnake, and only 2 cottonmouths and 3 or 4 copperheads fyi). Anyway I wouldn't say that pits are always meaner than corn snakes or kings, its just that when they get defensive it is more convincing. But I've never been crapped on by any pits, I have many times by kings. I'll take hissing and biting over crapping and biting any day! Another reason pits have the bad reputation is that you will get some that will just never seem to calm down (always females in my experience). They all have their own personalities, maybe more so than corns and kings.

If you do get some you want to handle I would suggest starting off with a male. Also they are sometimes sloppy constrictors so go with prekilled mice/rats too.

Actually, for me, my pits have been the best acting snakes I have ever owned. I only own one that hisses, the others are all dog tame. If you never have owned pits before and are thinking about getting some, your hobby is just now starting. ha ha.....
You will not be able to get only one. They are addicting.

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Genesis 1:1