Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys and gals,

Been keeping snakes for many years, kind of got out of the hobby and gave away half my snakes a couple years ago, but I do have a few left, a Black milk, eastern king, and an Andean milk. I used to have aout 9 snakes and a lot of pairs, but lost interest in breeding.

I've been thinking of picking up either a Bull or a Northern Pine. Looking for the variety that most likely will get the largest . Any input on that?

Second, what's the feeding requirements for a 7 foot adult? And how is their "excrement"?? Same as any other snake that size? I don't want it to stink up my house... usually use pine and just spot scoop once a week or so...

Thanks guys.

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Matt from Minnesota

Someone else can talk about size and what not but, the poop I think is universally thought of as STANK to the 10th power! I love my bulls and pines but I do not love the smell of the large poop dumps. Don't let that stop you, they are great snakes.

Miller

>>Hey guys and gals,
>>
>>Been keeping snakes for many years, kind of got out of the hobby and gave away half my snakes a couple years ago, but I do have a few left, a Black milk, eastern king, and an Andean milk. I used to have aout 9 snakes and a lot of pairs, but lost interest in breeding.
>>
>>I've been thinking of picking up either a Bull or a Northern Pine. Looking for the variety that most likely will get the largest . Any input on that?
>>
>>Second, what's the feeding requirements for a 7 foot adult? And how is their "excrement"?? Same as any other snake that size? I don't want it to stink up my house... usually use pine and just spot scoop once a week or so...
>>
>>Thanks guys.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>Matt from Minnesota
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1.1 Pituophis lineaticollis lineaticollis
1.1 Black Pine
1.0 Kankakee Bull Snakes
1.2 Still Water Hypos
0.0.1 Possibly stillwater x Red Bull
2.2 N. Pinesnake
1.0 Pituophis mutt
1.0 Florida King
1.1 Eastern Kings
1.1 Black Milksnake
0.0.1 Plains Garter
1.0 Chow Chow(2003 Papi)
0.1 Cat(Shug

"And how is their excrement??"

Not bad really, but I'd put some salt on it.

...I love 'em! Not sure which get biggest though probably pretty close and dependent on the line. Got an '08 Northern from RNP reptiles (Nick Pruder) and he made 5 feet on his first birtday...now over 5.5 and I don't power-feed him. May just have the "monster gene". Very good snake, just a tad jumpy but taming up more and more as he gets used to me. I think Nick still has some which I saw in Pasadena that were big for '09s...they go high b&w too!

So, let's see some pics of your Andean??? I've been getting an itch for one.

Brad

Matt, I have Sonoran gophers, south Texas bulls, and a pair of black pines, I don't notice any extra stank, same as the others. I'm gonna bank on the bulls for being larger, but that is only 'cause I don't have any other pines lol! Could be Northerns get just as big.
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Todd Hughes

Thanks for the inputs. I'm shopping for a nice high contrast bull or northern pine. I had a Kankakee bull for about 7-8 months and it was such a nice snake, and was growing very large before it ESCAPED due to old roommates not putting the cage top back on properly. That was back in '05, and now I'm getting back into the hobby again and want another bullsnake or pine!

Here's some shots of the Kankakee locale snake. She got BIG in just about 6 months as you can see.... tamer than my corns.

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Matt from Minnesota

I'm tempted to lean to another bull just because I loved her pattern, although it will be tough to find one with her colors.

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Matt from Minnesota

I really like those high contrast Kankakee animals! But I think I've got all the bulls I can handle right now, lol! I hatched 5 gophers last season , two are down the road but still have 3 more big mouths to feed!

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Todd Hughes

I was working border patrol in AZ for a bit and saw a really nice gopher once. About 5' and real light sandy and golden colors. Really pretty snake.

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Matt from Minnesota

I spend a fair bit of time working along the border as well and get lucky enough to see a few Sonoran gopher snakes each year. Very nice looking animals. What area were you stationed? We saw quite a few herps over in Yuma while conducting flat-tailed horned lizard survey this past summer..........

AZ to MN thats a change, I'll bet you are missing the heat right about now!

I spent 2 months supplementing the BP as a Air Guard member from MN in '06. We worked in Nogales and stayed in Tucson. Saw a lot of neat lizards in Nogales and a few fast black racers (saw them all in Saguaro national park) and that one gopher snake in Tucson. Some army guys spotted the gopher and a crowd gathered. I was surprised, everyone was nice and respectful to the snake and let it move on with its business.

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Matt from Minnesota

There's something of a consensus that pine isn't a good thing for snakes (I still use it for raising mice because it's so cheap). I found some aspen that was only slightly more...

I also use ReptiBark (fir) and have for many years with no problems . . .

n,m
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Matt from Minnesota

On the poop question, usually my snakes poop right on top of their aspen. But sometimes they poop in the tunnels they make in it. I know about when to expect a poop delivery, and if I don't see it in plain site I have to roust the litter to find it. Of course I take the snake out first.