Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all
I was thinking of getting into colubrids as well. I only have pythons and boas now.
I would like to get some pituophis, and was wondering which one get largest.
I`ve heard that northern pine and florida pine gets big, but are they the biggest.
any info would be great.

Regards Jonas

Pines are girthy and bulls are long but I'm pretty sure Shannon Browns monster bulls take the cake for both. Look for monster bulls in the archives and I'm sure you'll find some good pics. This is a pic of one large colubrid spilotes pulatus this snake belongs to primareptilia

Actually, it's beginning to look like P. lineaticollis is the largest pit. I'm hearing rumors of 8,9-even 10 feet for adults!

Brad Chambers

I'd have thought Bulls, but now Brad says lineaticollis!!! Wow! I gotta see pics of a 8 or 9 footer.

reako45

For length I think it's the monster bulls, or "277". For girth the south texas bulls are hard to beat.

Here's a 112 inch bull someone posted before.

This pine is really long.

This snow bull is huge.

Someone posted this bull on here before. I think it's a south texas.

Found this online labeled as a rattlesnake.

Wow that`s some big pits.
Can you tell me the scientific names on the different snakes?
Man they are huge.

Jonas

Heres a link with all the info you need.
http://www.kingsnake.com/pituophis/index.html
Nate

Thanks for all the replies.
I looked at the Pituophis page, but couldn`t find the scientific name on the south texas pituophis. Can anyone help me on that?

Thanks Jonas

Pituophis Melanoleucus sayi.

Brad Chambers

It`s just that on the Pituophis page, The sayi is called Pituophis catenifer sayi.
And wouldn`t that make it a gopher snake?
So what is right?

Pituophis melanoleucus sayi or Pituophis catenifer sayi?

Just trying to get it right

Jonas

http://www.pituophis.org

Brad Chambers

The NAFHA database lists the bullsnake as P. catenifer sayi!

So I'll look into it a bit more....

Brad Chambers

Reptile database

http://www.tigr.org/reptiles/species.php?genus=Pituophis&species=catenifer

Its both! Used to be melanoleucus, now its placed in catenifer. I've also heard them placed as their own species, Pituophis sayi. Taxonomy often changes; if you use "Pituophis" and "sayi" together, everyone will still know what you are talking about, no matter which species you place it as.
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

I'm more of a splitter myself. when I look at bulls, both physiologically and ecologically, I can see that they might warrant their own species, Pituophis sayi. Failing that, to me they would be more closely allied to the pines (melanoleucus)-same heavy head structure, similar fossorial lifestyle, same semi-specialization on pocket gopher prey (in many cases). This despite the fact that their range never intersects that of any pine snake, but does mesh with gophers across a broad front.

If you look at P. ruthveni, it's hard to imagine a more perfect "missing link" between pines and bulls!

Brad Chambers

Now that you mention it, I recall a study which determined ruthveni was the closest relative to sayi (this study gave sayi full species status). I think that is right, but I could be wrong....
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"I'll be back at 6 if not 7. 8 the very latest but definatly no later than 9...ish...Moscow time."

How people get them to be so big? Is it just genetic or feeding?

Both...Bullsnakes are naturally big beefy snakes, but captive snakes generally grow larger quicker due to lack of environmental pressures (i.e. automobiles, a ready supply of food, no predators, etc.)...

Also, some keepers will "powerfeed" their animals, causing them to grow larger much faster than they otherwise would...such practice is generally considered unhealthy for the snake as it can lead to obesity, diminshed sexual capability and shortened lifespan.

-AzAtrox

I was just wondering since many of island Reticulated Pythons are smaller due to lack of food supply, whileas their inland cousins are monster-size and when people take the hatchlings of the island Pythons, they quickly become the same size as the inland variety; only a few of the island Retic can be attributed to genetics.

It just that care sheets on Bull Snakes make them sound like most of them are 7-9' long.

They do get quite large...8 ft captive bullsnakes are not unheard of....but there are also genetic and environmental factors that limit the size of certain populations...Snakes from different locales may not reach the same size.

-AzAtrox