Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got this new snake off of craiglist today. they said it was a Prairie Kingsnake. just want to make sure.

what is the best way to put some weight on the snake. she dips in on the top of her back all the way down. the pics do not show it.

That's a Bull snake. Those things can get 8'
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I thought the head look off. that is way I was asking. she is very friendly.

That is not a prairie kingsnake or not a king of any kind.

Definitely a pituophis catenifer (Gopher/Bull)

I'd say sonoran gopher (affinis). A bullsnake's rostral scale is higher than wide.

P

Sure looks like a Sonoran Gopher to me too. And they eat a heck of a lot more than one mouse a week. I have a feeling that that's what the X owner fed it and that's why it's so thin. If I remember correctly the Gophers can get even larger than bulls.

Bulls have the edge in size (8 & 1/2 ft), but sonorans get large too (7' 1/2 ft).

To put some weight on that bull/gopher snake, it'll take a little while but it's not hard. Just feed the snake a sizeable hunk of mouse every week like clockwork and keep the temps in the cage up.
Its hard to tell exactly how big the snake is now, but if it's body is as round as an adult mouse is, you could get by with 3 or 4 thawed mice at a time. I might even be cheaper to do hopper rats, but those are probably more difficult to locate.

Prairie kingsnake..........sheesh.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

the X owner feed her a rat ever 2-3 wks she about 5 1/2 - 6 ft long. so far she has eat 1 small and 1 lg rat.

I was fine with it being a pairie, except that the length is all wrong. I haven't seen a prairie king get anywhere near 5 foot. Maybe mine have all been runts.

it does look wrong for a king.
You guys sure don't miss much, do ya?
I guess it is kingsnake.com, but you guys are on top of it.

She is not Prairie king, but she a nice looking snake. Sonoran Gopher or bull she is in a home that she get hold and feed every week. they had her in 10 gal. tank. and said she was 4 feet long. they got her to train their dogs to avoid snakes.