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hi all.. im new to bull snakes and we are havin the hardest time tryin to get him outta the cage so we can clean it. He will come after us even if we go near his cage and we really need to clean it. the last time we tried to get him out he almost bit the hubby in the face.

cause if we arent able to clean his cage, or handle him we are gonna have to get rid of him. and i do not want to do that. but if we can not handle or clean his cage there is no other choice..

are there any ideas or tricks to either get him to calm down so we can pick him up and clean his cage ?

How old is your snake and how big is he? He can calm down by handling him more often with no sudden movement. Is he hissing and you thought he may be trying to bite? most of the time it just all bluff. You can also try using a snake hook to get him out it seems to help some.
Post pictures of your bull too and welcome to a wonderful world of pits!

no we had thought that at first that it was all a bluff from him.. but its not only him hissin and rattlin, its him commin at us and tryin to strike...

cause i really need to clean his cage, and we had him out a few times, but each time it was gettin harder and harder to get him out, now its to the point where we cant get near the cage with out him comin for us

heres a pic of him, im not to sure how old he is, hes about 3 and half feet now..

very nice hypo! well ya know i would be more than happy to take him off your hand and i can deal with the biting and all

what do u mean a hypo ?? we have been tryin to figure out what kind it is for a bit

i have balls, and this is our first bull

if u want u are more then welcomed to

hypo is a color morph and this one is called "hypo" which it has reduced black pigments and light color in patterns.

gotcha

Very nice bull!

What part of the country are you in?

I'd take it off your hands, too!

//Todd

i live in CT..

if i could find someone to make some kinda deal with, i would be all the happy to find out what i need to do to ship him....

I really hope that this was some kind of honest mistake, and that you are not trying to trick people...but the URL of the picture shows that it is in your photobucket album so I'm not quite sure what is going on here.

The picture of the Bull Snake that you posted is MY picture and it is MY Bull Snake. I did post that picture a year ago on here when I got her, and the picture is in my photobucket album, so I see how you could have saved it, but I don't know why you would use it without permission AND claim that it is YOUR snake (unless, you made a mistake when you were saving/uploading...in which case I apologize ahead of time). But since you have replied to a number of posts about it, I got the impression that you knew what you had uploaded.

Anyway, the snake in the picture is my CBB 07 Female Out-crossed Hypo Stillwater Bull Snake that I bought from Rob Nimmo with Peace River Herps last summer. I took that picture right after I unpacked her.

I attached the same picture that short124s uploaded, as well as another picture from that day that I took a few seconds later...and also two pictures that I took of her recently just in case anyone wanted to count saddles to confirm that it is the same snake.
She's about 1 year of age in the two recent pictures (and about 4 ft. long and 450 g empty).

Well, I hope that I didn't just yell at someone because they made a simple mistake, but I just didn't want this to go any further without an explanation.

~Alex

u know what, i thought that my hubby took that pic of him when we brought it home.. i have pics of him in his tank... im so sorry that it was ur pic... i feel so bad now .. im so sorry... ill post ones that i know that i took..

once again i am soooooo sorry

Oh, OK...no big deal. I was hoping to hear that it was an accident, as opposed to having to assume that someone did it on purpose.

That is a real nice bull that you have there. He does look very similar to my girl.

Your's and mine are both actually Hypomelanistic.
The difference is that mine is the Stillwater line of Hypomelanism, and I'm almost positive that your's is the original line of Hypomelanism (Trumbrower line).
As far as I know, the two lines are not compatiable, but breeding is being done right now to find out for sure.

No hard feelings about using my picture by mistake, but just out of curiosity...how did you get it?

Thanks,

Alex

to be honest i thought that it was one that the hubby took...

i asked him and he said that he just searched and found it on photobucket..

i am very sorry.. i honestly thought that is was mine and i am truly sorry.

and as for the genes, i have noooo clue what the diffs are i always knew it wasnt a normal, but i never was able to find out what it was thanx for the tip

Don't worry about it at all, like I said, I was really hoping that you just made a mistake. I see how you could have thought it was one of your husband's pictures by accident.

Also, if it means anything to you...I'm now positive that your bull is the original, generic line of Hypomelanism (Trumbrower).
Feel free to post some more pics of him if you get him handelable...he is a very nice example of the mutation.

Thanks for taking the time to apologize, I know it was completely unintentional.

Well, best of luck taming your bull down. I think that hooking him to get him out of the cage, and then slowly putting him in your hands and staying very slow and calm is an excellent idea.
It has worked very well for me taming down dumerous older pine snakes.
Also, don't be afraid to use your hands sometimes. Although some of the strikes may be real...a lot will be bluffs, and once you get him in your hands...the chance of getting bit (from my experience) is next to none as long as you are calm and don't starttle him. (Always make sure that you don't have the scent of food on you or even in the air too.)

Take care,

Alex

thank u very much

im glad u figured out what he was though i dont know the diff at all

but im thinkin that i might just try and find a new home for him..and hopin that it will be with someone who knows more about them then i do and will be able to get him tamed

i will be sad to give him up,but i think it be best for him

PHEW- that was exhausting.

Shoot me a PM if you really want to get rid of the snake- I'd be happy to take it off your hands...

Thanks,
//Todd

Hey Alex, if you need to off that Stillwater Hypo I'll gladly pay for shipping...no seriously, know where can I get me one?

Thanks,
Brad

Well, if all goes well...you can get one from me in the '09 season! lol
I'm going to have to see how big she is when the time comes though because I know that breeding her at 2 years is a year younger than most breeders do, but she is growing fast and I am very anxious to see what kind of babies she will produce.

But if you are looking to buy one this season, which I'm guessing you are ...like I said in my previous post, I bought her from Rob Nimmo with Peace River Herps (peaceriverherps dot com), and he was awesome. You could check to see if he has any left.
Jim Keenan with Home Grown Herps (homegrownherps dot com) produces a small number of nice ones each year too, but I think he had a waiting list.

Also, I see that there are some males for sale on the kingsnake classifieds, which look like they will become quality adults.

Well, that's about all I can think of from the top of my head besides going to the Daytona Expo and looking there.

Hope I helped!

~Alex

Thanks...just saw the NEW ad in the KS Classifieds.

Tom Stevens also just had batch of these this year. tomssnakes.com

Yeah, that's the ad that I was talking about. lol

Yep- I just saw those the other day in person, and they're REALLY nice!!!

Every time I tried to pack them away into my backpack, he turned around on me...

//Todd

Buy a hook and learn how to use it.Is your bull getting enough to eat?Are the temps any different?Any changes/noises/locations?Any cat driving it crazy?I purchased a hook a couple of years ago and it was a wise decision.My female northern pine is moody as hell and she handles beeing hooked fine.

>>hi all.. im new to bull snakes and we are havin the hardest time tryin to get him outta the cage so we can clean it. He will come after us even if we go near his cage and we really need to clean it. the last time we tried to get him out he almost bit the hubby in the face.
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>>cause if we arent able to clean his cage, or handle him we are gonna have to get rid of him. and i do not want to do that. but if we can not handle or clean his cage there is no other choice..
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>>are there any ideas or tricks to either get him to calm down so we can pick him up and clean his cage ?

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If lead paint is so deadly why do they make it so delicious?

well we only have had it for a few months... when we first brought it home it was ok, i mean everytime we went in his cage, he would hiss and rattle, but we were able to get him out. but each time we did it he became more aggressive...

his warm side is 90 and his cool side is 80.. and we give him 2 mice every 7 days, and we dont have any other animals except 2 ball pythons...and he is in the quietest room in the house

im also not to sure where to get one nor how to use one

how about if you try to turn down the temps? it is probably too hot for him in that size enclosure. shoot for 80-82 degrees on the hot side for a while and room temp on the cool side.

daveb
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in the light, you will find the road...

he is in a 30 gl tank, and i did trun it down, i though that maybe if i dropped the temps a bit, he would calm down, but it didnt change to much... but i will deff keep it down around there if it will make any changes with him

Do you have a hideout big enough for it to feel secure in? Even a cerial box will do, I like pvc pipe, 3" or 4" diameter and 16" or longer. When any of mine feel insecure, they'll gitchee real quick. And like the man said, be sure your hands or even the area in the vicinity have no smell of food, wash first. I think yours are just insecure and it's fight or flight, and with no hideing place, he's coming out of there, I would.

with no hides ??

i have his tank set up the same way that i have my balls set up, which is, he is on paper towels, and had a water bowl in the middle and 2 hides that he can fit in, i also have a tree and fake flowers that take up the empty space to make him feel more secure.

am i missin anythin ?

Way to hot.I keep all mine room temp.72 to 80 degrees.

>>how about if you try to turn down the temps? it is probably too hot for him in that size enclosure. shoot for 80-82 degrees on the hot side for a while and room temp on the cool side.
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>>daveb
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>>in the light, you will find the road...

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If lead paint is so deadly why do they make it so delicious?

ok i have his warm side down to 80, but still havent tried to handle him at all... cause every time we open the cage he comes straight up and we get a bit scared

My experience with these guys is that they do bluff - a lot. They can and do bite from time to time, but it seems to me that i8f his bluff works, he will stick with it.

I agree temps too warm. Cool it off for a week or so, leave him alone, and try again.

Once he bites you a couple of times and you don't let it get you down (it's not usually a big deal really) he will decide that his bluff does not work. That's what happens with hognose - eventually they stop playing dead etc.

I hook my Northern 5-foot female regardless of her mood. She knows the difference between feeding and handling. She has never bit and she has reared up, hissed, rattled her tail and circled the cage in a frenzy. Once she's out, she's fine!

Don't give up so easily. Be the keeper, not the kept.

Landon
My snake page