Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My little 4' gopher I think wants something bigger than mice.
When collected she had a huge lump in her. On tuesday, I gave her two live mice (smallish in size) and then a large f/t mouse that one of my kings rejected. She ate them - but the lump they made was smaller, and her subsequent poop was smaller.

I went to local pet store today to see if they had any smallish frozen rats that were bigger than mice. They didn't - only big frozen rats. They did give me a free hamster though, it apparently bit the little girl who bought it and then bit them when returned. That hamster is now in the snakes belly.

Anyway - I want to add some appropriate sized rats to my next RodentPro order.

The gopher is just about 4' snout to tip of tail. I'm trying to decide between their small and their medium size. Suggestions?
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 19 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

It's hard to say for sure without seeing the snake in person but from your description I would think large mice or weaned rats which are just slightly larger than adult mice would be about right. Randy W.

THAT`S A BEAUTIFUL BULL ,
IS THAT CAPTIVE BRED OR WILD CAUGHT ?
I HAVE AN ALBINO , BUT I STILL CAN`T TELL A WILD FROM CAPTIVE

ALSO ANOTHER QUESTION ;
MY ALBINO WHO I`VE HAD FOR ABOUT 6MONTHS DOESN`T CONSTRICT AT ALL . HE JUST STARTS SWALLOWING FUZZIES LIVE .
IS THAT COMMON ?
I`M PROBABLY GONNA START FEEDING FROZEN , JUST SO HE DOESN`T GET HURT

If your bull is albino it probably is captive bred.
I suggest going to F/T for several reasons -

A dead rodent won't bite a snake.
You do not have to cage an uneated dead rodent
You can stock up on them, reducing trips to pet store.

It is not uncommon for constrictors to eat pinkies and fuzzies without constricting.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 18 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Haha- pick up some more hamsters!

I'd guess probably hopper rats, or maybe small rats. I think mediums would be on the large size...

//Todd

Judging by the pics of the snake you posted in your post below, I personally would stick with just mice for that snake at this time. I order from Big Cheese, and compared with Rodent Pro the weights of the food items of what I buy for my pits that are 4 feet vs. the weights listed for both companies, and me personally, I would, at this time, feed that snake medium to adult mice. Then, of course, adjusting to bigger sized food items as it grows. Rat pups from Rodent Pro would be the absolute biggest rat choice that I would personally pick for that particular snake if it was in my care. Small to medium rats are what I feed my biggest bulls and pines that are over 5 and 6 feet.

So this snake ate 4 food items in less than a week, perhaps in the last 5 days since you mentioned Tuesday? If so, just be careful as pits can be prone to regurge syndrome.

She is very pretty btw!
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Genesis 1:1

Well - she definitely seems to want more than same sized kings.

On Friday she had a sizeable lump. I was gone weekend.
Monday she had a sizeable poop.
Tuesday - two mice (adult, sexually mature - but small adult) and a large F/T. Lump they made was smaller than what I caught her with - and so was the resulting poop. Live hamster Saturday. Plan was to buy a frozen rat, weight it, and if she could handle it - but rats that weight from Rodent Pro.

She gets the food down faster than longer length kings and seems to digest faster too, so I'm guessing they are designed to handle bigger prey.

The hamster she ate yesterday barely shows a lump.

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DeRail
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I've been out twice now trying to find her a mate.
I found a DOR on my first outing. It had been there several days as only some skin was left, rest had been eaten. I talked to two locals who have found them in last week. Yesterday I went and checked some boards that in the past only have turned up Cal Kings for me but are near where one was sighted by a local. Only thing under them was a Contia tenuis. I'm determined to find her a local mate, and I want to find it on time to treat any parasites before brumation.

Monday afternoon I'm going to check along a different part of the Sacramento river trail where a few people have told me they have seen rattlesnakes (possible but I'm guessing gopher, actual rattlesnakes in the city limits are kind of rare - I've not even found them DOR. They are here, but generally not where people are).

Once summer heat hits, finding anything that slithers is next to impossible except very early AM and late PM. So I hope to find one before June - but my luck finding *live* gophers up here hasn't been too good. I'm sure it's me, just haven't found the sweet spots not on private land yet.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 19 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

Be careful, sometimes they reject rats due to their love of mice. I've had good luck with scenting the rats' noses with mice though. I would say start with weaned rats because the small rats are about twice the size of a jumbo mouse. What kind of gopher is it? My 4-5 foot pacific gopher can't even dream of a small rat due to his small head .

It's a Pac Gopher.
I'm getting a year old BP soon so if she can't handle the small rats, they won't go to waste.
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3.6 L. getula californiae - 19 eggs (Cal. King)
1.1 L. getula nigrita (MBK)
1.0 Pantherophis guttatus guttatus (Corn)
0.1 Pituophis catenifer catenifer (Pacific gopher)
3.3 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata (Cal. Alligator Lizard)

i would start with smalls, even if you end up feeding several a meal/ i am sure it could tackle some of those mediums, but the upper limits might be a stretch and possibly turn it off to rats altogether if unsuccessful eating a big one.
daveb

My Bulls are 4' and easily taking down Rodent Pro's small rats. So, that is what I would suggest.
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