Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone. This is my first time posting in this forum. Well, I did post in the gopher snake sub forum, but when I went back, and looked the last post before mine was about a month earlier so I guess everybody just posts on here. I usually post on the mexicana kingsnake forum because my main interest is Thayeri kingsnakes. That is the only thing I had in mind to get when I went to the Daytona expo this year. I did that, but I also came back with a pair of albino Applegate gophers. I have never owned a pit before, but I've always said I wanted to get a pair of these because they're gorgeous. All day Sat, and Sun I kept looking at these snakes, and telling myself that if they were still there at the end of the show I would get them. Well, sure enough after I had bought all the Thayeri I was going to buy I went back over to that table with an hour left in the show, and they were still there. I bought them, and have been obsessed ever since. They have a very calm disposition, and actually seem pretty intelligent. At least more so then my other snakes. Having kept alot of kingsnakes it's nice to have some I can house together. I'm already thinking of adding another female. Should I get another one like these, or something different (phase/morph)? Here are some pics of them taken right after I got back.
Any advice you all could give me on these snakes would be greatly appreciated. I keep them in my snake room which averages 76-81 degrees. Thanks for listening to me ramble. and have a nice day.
Ken

its a good thing that mexicana don't take up much room. expect to have your pit collection grow exponentially. congratulations!
daveb

You could be right. If the pit bug bites me like the Thayeri bug did I will literaly have to get a bigger place. lol.
Ken

couple key differences that's good to keep in mind:while i haev found kings(including mexicanas) will usually not eat what they acn't hold down....not true with the pituophis genera.keep the prey items on the small side,though due to their high metabolism,you may be able to get away with slightly more frequent feedings....more cage floor space is important;they not only grow faster and larger(esp. pines/bulls),but are more active too.and they don't seem to need quite as much heat as kings,maybe a couple degeres cooler they do fine...i think there's a good chance you'll see a big difference in personality between pits and your variables.
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"with head raised regally,and gazing at me with lidless eyes,he seemed to question with flicks of his long forked tongue my right to trespass on his territory" Carl Kauffeld

Thanks for the advice. I will definately move them to a bigger tank. The female voraciously ate her rat pink, but the male refused the first time I tried to feed him. I am really starting to see their personalties. Very cool snakes.
Ken

Ken,

I am pumped to see that you have gotten into and pits and also, your first purchase was the same thing that got me into pits, the albino Applegate gophers. You picked up some good specimens as well, as it seem that they will have the brilliant white they are known for going all the way down their body. Good job my friend!!

Your temps seem perfect in my opinion. If you were going to house them together, I would house them separately, just to have them apart and to help monitor progress individually.

Those should do well in a shoeboxfor a while. Just keep putting them in larger containers accordingly and they should reach over 4 ft in their adulthood. Here is a pic of mine.

Keep us posted!!! Welcome to something you will never have control over..the pit bug!

Billy

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Genesis 1:1