Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine works in White Water Canyon and found this Gopher Snake this past weekend, is this a common looking Gopher for this area? Would you recommend keeping this animal as

Another Pic.

I would let it go if its wild caught. There's plenty of affordable captive bred gophers around that need good homes! Why ruins its life? Hahaha, that remark will probably get me in trouble...

I agree 100%. The dude that came across it has it set up in a cage as of now and is considering keeping it, I recommended putting it back right where he found it, hopefully he will.

That is a Great Basin Gopher snake. I have a WC '05 female that looks very similar but from a different locale. I was w/ a friend of mine when he caught a similar looking Great Basin a little south of White Water. How long is the snake? I don't like keeping anything WC over 3'. Maybe w/ an animal like that I'd make exceptions.

reako45

I was told the snake is just about 3 ft. Is this Gopher more rare than others from this area? In your opinion what would you do with this animal? Breed?

I'm not sure, but I believe that Great Basin Gopher snakes (along w/ Pacifics) have one of the largest ranges of the Gophers here in North America. The cool thing about Great Basins is that depending on their locale they've got different patterns. Gophers are relatively easy to care for and make great pets. To breed native CA species I think you need a permit ($45) from F&G. Whatever you decide, best of luck to you.

reako45

Great Basin Gophers are pretty common. The offspring of normals (like the one in the photo) would not be worth much ($15-$25 each). Like the other person who posted said, they are highly variable and if you were serious about them, a selective breeding program could be developed to enhace certain traits.

Here's a yearling I found while roadhunting in the Las Vegas area this Summer.

Tim

Las Vegas Herping Photos