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...my '08 Pine is doing nicely at 5 , but a pain to photo today. Funny thing, as my friend and I were doing this a mother and teenage daughter walked by, the mom was cool, but the daughter was freaked bigtime, like "C'mon mom, let's get out of here, that thing is disgusting"...dunno, maybe she's into designer corns?

Thanks Nick

That is one horse of a pine for a one year old. Must be hittin the chow every five days or so (generously). Will be interesting to see where it tops out someday. Please provide updates as it ages...

Funny, I have given it good feeds fairly regularly but aside from a recent meal of 3 small rats, really haven't "pushed" him. In fact, he laid off for a few weeks a couple times. Never the less, some have suggested that he might be growing too fast so I think I'll throttle down.

Impressive northern. Where do you get your rats from? Do you know what chow they are on

Rats? He's still on fuzzies, two packs a day!

Frankly, your question brings up an issue I'm having. My current source is providing rats and jumbo mice that have bloody noses and in some cases there's lots of blood. This is peaving me off so probably time to switch. Anyone else have this issue? I'd mention the name of the supplier but not sure if that is cool here???

My current source is providing rats and jumbo mice that have bloody noses and in some cases there's lots of blood.

I have this "problem" from time to time too (and not just with rats but with mice of various sizes too).

Aside from the annoyance associated with the mess factor is there more to be concerned with when they're in this condition?

Curious if I should be worried about this is all...

Thanks.

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/scott

Scott, thats a nice looking pine. Would you have any pics showing the complete snake?

BEAUTIFUL northern!

//Todd

Beautiful northern.
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Matt Kauffman

Years ago I had to by my mice live and had to dispatch them myself. Without trying to be too graffic, I found they bled more out the nose from bopping them on the head too far forward on the nose. There is spongy tissue in the nasal cavity that ruptures. Other than being a little messy, as long as the mice are frozen right away, I think feeding them to your snakes should be fine. I don't know which is more humane, bopping them on the head like Little Bunny Foo Foo or freezing them live. Unfortunately this is a reality when feeding captive snakes.

I found using CO2 to be very effective. Pretty simple. Get a paint/ball gun CO2 canister and adapter. A medium to large size plastic storage container with screw on lid. Drill a suitable sized hole into the bottom side of the container to attach the adapter. Drill a small hole into the top of the container.

Insert rodents. Tighten lid back on. Slowly turn the handle on the canister to release gas. CO2 is heavier than oxygen. As it flows into the bottom of the canister it will push out the oxygen through the hole drilled into the top of the container.

This does not work on pinks. Pinks will need to be frozen. Use caution when filling with gas too quickly as this could blow the lid off the canister.

That is an outstanding NP, Brad!! Nice work on raising him up. Maybe a few adjustments to his feeding are in order, but like many people have told me in the past...if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Ya know?
One rather serious reason to maybe back off a little is that as the snake gets a bit older he will starting growing in girth rather than just exploding length-wise, and such a girth increase may lead to fatty liver disease and such. Just something to be mindful of, but otherwise I applaud your ability to grow snakes!!!!
Cheers,
--Brian
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--Brian Scott

Thanks Brian, I do plan on reducing his feeding. Again, I really don't think I've pushed him that hard, if at all but it obviously won't hurt to cut back. I am aware of the "fatty" issue and will definitely not let that happen as I've read that it is deleterious very hard to reverse.

Always wanted a clean "high white" and he's getting whiter with each shed...of course as you've said, ya never know where it'll go.

That is one clean looking Nothern there. Nice job getting it up to size.
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2.4 Black Pines
.1 Albino Northen Pine
1.1 Northern Pines
1.2 Red Bulls
1. Hypo Bull
1.1 D. Deppei

Nice pine Brad.

And championjeep, every time you post this picture I can't believe how awesome that snake it. Such a cool pattern.

Brad, that guy's awesome! Funny story about the mom and the kid. Passers by while you've got your snake out always make for an interesting experience.

reako45

Man, he's huge now! Looking great too.

As for the blood, I get it on my rats that are CO2 gassed. I think it comes from freezing them, as the vessels will burst from the expansion of water in the blood. Got a nice blood stain the other day when I dropped one on the floor. The snakes don't mind, the adult pines are chowing down on them as fast as they can!

See you in Pasadena!

His father pictured below

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Nick Puder
www.rnpreptiles.com