Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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Hi, just wanted to compliment you on the sweet pic of your 2 year old black pine, it'll be my wallpaper for a couple of days. I'm a small hobbyist' 3 black pines, 2 bulls, a cape gopher, everglades and a grey rat (both adoptions) and an andean milk. I love em all but my black pines have definitely been by far the most entertaining snakes of the lot.

I got my first male as an adult three years ago...he was so vicious it cracks me up to think about it. When I got him home he was in blue and pretty lowkey so I figured he's probably a sweet snake if he's not grouchy in shed. WRONG! I had to handle him with gloves for the first couple of weeks...bit me on the hand, on the knee thru my jeans, tried to take my glasses off once when I opened his cage. I used to put him on my lap when he calmed down a little and he would just inflate himself and hiss like a stuck tire...amazing! (used to be a black pine site with real recorded hiss...)

Anyway, I seriously considered returning him to the EBV where I got him but with consistent handling in about two to three months he started to tame down...now he's dogtame, ridiculous, impossible to get even half a hiss out of...I let kids handle him without concern. I let him and his mate (have one 36" baby now from last year) crawl around my room whenever they seem to want out and consistently explore for about 1/2 hour then crawl up two shelves and go back into there cage! First time that happened my jaw dropped!

But the kicker came the other day. My female will eat anything I put in front of her (including fingers if I'm not careful-she charges at the smell of food but is otherwise perfectly tame) but the male mentioned above is pretty damn picky and usually can be enticed only with baby rats or chicks. So I had him outside with me under a tree and the neighbors cat...small black one...is hanging out and Night starts stalking her!!!! Second time I observed this...first time he chased her down some concrete steps----I couldn't believe it! This pinesnake that won't even eat a medium sized rat wants cat for dinner. So when she starts backing away, he follows!!!! And he's chasing this cat for about 8 feet with his head raised up like a cobra and his mouth open!!!! Cracked me UP!!!!
Anyway sorry for the long yap but I love black pines! Decter

>>My female will eat anything I put in front of her (including >>fingers if I'm not careful-she charges at the smell of food >>but is otherwise perfectly tame)

I hear that, my bullsnakes are that way, a couple of Sonorans, too. I handle them fairly often, but you still have to be careful when you open the cage because they are always thinking food first!!