Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i live just south of denver. my house backs up to a state park. in the summer there are tons of bull snakes in the yard. my questions are relating to the fact that i have never owned a snake.

-if i catch a baby how hard are they to keep?

-how big am i going to expect the snake to get?/ how big tank when fully grown

-when i was young i got struck by a garter and since have been a little skiddish around snakes, would this be a bad type of snake to start to get comfortable around. i know they are regarded as fairly aggressive.

i think that is the bulk of the info i need to start. i do have a lizard so i'm not 100% a rookie in that respect but i think there would be quite a difference in caring for a bull snake than a leopard gecko.

thanks for any info you can give. -TJ

A wild caught snake would probably not be the best choice for a first time snake owner.They can or do have external and internal parasites.It may not even be legal to collect or keep the w/c bulls in your area.I wont say that w/c cant be calmed down and they wont prosper.It can happen.Ive done it.Ive also killed off a few learning.24 years ago everything was w/c and there were no resources except the public library.
If I where you I would start with a healthy captive born from a good breeder.There are many reputable breeders here on this forum whos advice I would follow as law.There are also caresheets on this site that will help you determine the temps/humdity/cage size.Asking questions here is a great place to start also.
Good Luck with whatever you do.M.
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If lead paint is so deadly why do they make it so delicious?

Bulls are great starter snakes because of they are generally tame and aren't shy about eating. however I wouldn't recommend a wild caught bull if you are the least bit squeemish about getting bit. They can sure put on a good show hissing and striking when harrassed! But most of the captive bred bulls are tame, especially if handled soon after hatching. They do tend to have a variety of personalities. A few are very defensive and may never tame, so I would recommend either picking one up at a reptile show (where available) where you can handle and choose from many different hatchlings. If you can't do that then try to find a breeder that has time to hand pick you a calm individual. The albino bull I ordered from high sierra reptiles was super tame when I got him and still is today. And they do get fairly large but it usually takes many years. You won't have a seven foot snake in one year, more likely a 6 footer in 4. I'd say six feet is average, depending on the parents.

Good luck!

Wow! I just want to say how jealous I am. I can't imagine how great it would be to live in a place where there were tons of Bull Snakes in my back yard. However, i agree that it would be a bad idea (and possibly illegal) to take one of those beautiful snakes out of the wild. I would buy a nice one from a dealer and then just enjoy knowing that I might have a chance of seeing a wild one everytime I stepped out my door. What could be better than that? It's like owning your own collection with none of the expense or trouble of feeding, lighting and caging. Let Mother Nature take care of all that and just enjoy!

thanks for all the info. it really puts things in perspective for me. i'll look we have some crazy pics of bull snakes by the house if i can find them i'll put them up.

thanks again
-T