Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a North mexican pine snake about 3 days ago. He’s absolutly gorgeous! Orange, brown, black and about 12 inches long.

I only see him at night though, he digs and stays burrowed during the day. Are they exclusively nocturnal?? When I try to handle him....he’s meaner than hell! haha! tries biting from start to finish!

Does anyone else have one?? Any input, advice, comments, tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Also, how much subtrate is "too much" for heat to get through with the heating pad? How many inches should I be using? I have a North Mexican Pine that is about 12-15 inches long sharing the cage with a 3in green anole. They are both in a 30gal tank. the substrate is coconut husk over top of a little organic potting soil (live plants goin on). I have a 75watt basking lamp, a grow bulb, and the UTH (heating pad) on one side. There are hides on both sides of the tank as well. I have temp strips on both sides of the bottom of the tank to measure ground temp. I also have one near the top on the basking side....it also measures humidity.

At night, my place drops to high 60’s, low 70s. During the day, its usually in the mid 70’s. Daytime temp strips at bottom of the tank read around 70ish on the cool side, and 74ish on the warm end (under basking light with no UTH going). The temp gauge at top of tank reads 80-85. I know these snakes prefer cooler temps.......but am I doing ok so far?

I live in TX, so its fixin to warm up in a few months. I was just worried about my temps currently being too cold .......advice please.

Thanks sooooo much

First off, I wouldnt be surprised if your green anole goes missing. I do not have any N. Mex Pines but I have witnessed many times here in New Mexico that young pits will often eat lizards. The depth of substrate should be enough for them to dig around and bury them selves. My young bulls and pines are primarily active at night.

Of all my Pits my Mexican pines are the most secretive of all. The squirming and biting is only natural. Instinct tells a small snake anything bigger is going to eat me. Their only defenses are musking, squirming and biting trying to get away. They also are the slowest to get going. After months of minimal handling, only taking them out to put them in feeding tubs then returning them to their cage they are beginning to trust me not to eat them. They still tail rattle and head butt but don't really bite anymore, they are still squirmy. All my other pits of around the same age are eating large pinky to hopper rats. My Mexs are just now starting on small fuzzy mice. They still are the most secretive of all my pines but do come out some in the late afternoon early evening.

If this were my snake I would get it out of the anole tank and set it up in a ten gallon with 3-4" of aspen bedding, an under tank heater, a very secure screen lid. No heat lamp, close fitting secure hides on each end and a water bowl on the cool end. I would also have a moist hide towards the cool side for humidity and to aid in shedding. I use the square 2.9 cup Rubbermaid tubs with 2" hole cut in the lid. These I fill with either damp, not wet, sphagnum moss or orchid fiber. these can be found in the garden dept of most home centers like Lowe's, Home Depot etc.. For thermometers I would suggest at the very least thermometers that can be moved around and placed on the bedding, in hides etc. to get a real reading of the temp gradient. The stick on plastic strip thermometers are not very accurate and being on the outside give only a reading to the temp of the glass they are sticking to.

I would keep handling to a bare minimum only getting it out to put in a feeding tub then back to the cage when finished. As it grows it will develop confidence and some trust. Excessive handling seems to stress them not tame them.

That's my 2 cents.
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

Great post!!

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Genesis 1:1

Sweet snake, is that a cape?
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BigT
There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity. The ignorant can be taught, stupidity is beyond our control.
1.2 P. m. melanoleucus B/W N. J. Northern Pines
1.2 P. d. deppei Mexican Pines
2.2 P. l. lineaticollis Linis or Lined Pines
1.2 P. m. lodingi Black Pines
0.3 P. c. sayi red bulls
1.1 Drymarchon melenurus Blacktail Cribo
1.2 D. corais Yellowtail Cribos
1.2 M. s. cheynei Jungle Carpet
2.6 L. p. pyromelana Arizona Mt. Kings
1.1 L. g. californiae B/W Cali kings
0.0.3 M. f. flagellum Eastern Coachwhips
1.2 G. m. bottegoi Western Plated lizards

Thanx! It is a Deppei Jani.
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Genesis 1:1

Wow. That looks like one of those vivid reptiles jani to me. What a beautiful animal.

Thanks! It is a Deppei Jani from Suncoast Herps.
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Genesis 1:1

Thanks so much for the advice! I hope my jani turns out as pretty as the one that was posted in the thread! It should.....he comes from a good line. He's young, but I can already see the colors bout to come through.

Thanks again!

A couple things not mentioned yet; and be careful with the temperatures and be careful with the feeding. These guys stress above 75F. If you have a warmer spot, that's fine as long as there's still access to a cooler end of the enclosure. They do fine at room temperature without any supplemental heat. Do not try to push them with feeding. This is extremely important. They will not tolerate it, and will regurgitate. A small meal every 7-10 days is what you should aim for. You don't want to see a noticeable food bulge after a meal. Multiple smaller food items are better than one large.

Mexican pines are awesome creatures. Once established, they're practically bulletproof and when they hit 6-7' they're real show-stoppers

"When I try to handle him....he’s meaner than hell! haha! tries biting from start to finish! "

It's young, so it's more prone to hissing and striking, but you still want to make sure you're not handling it too much. Give it time to settle into it's new cage (once you get it out of the Anole's tank), and then ease into handling it after it's feeding well.

It sees you as a huge predator, so you want to convince it that you're really just a big funny looking, funny smelling pine snake with no intentions of eating it

Once it settles in, take your time just getting it used to your hand. A useful trick here is to think of your hand as either a predator (e.g. a cat) or another pine snake. You want to do everything you can to make your hand act like the snake, not the cat!

For example, keep it near the floor of the cage (not above the snake's head) and slowly work your hand under the snakes chin then the rest of it's body. This is a super non-threatening way to pick it up, and won't be as likely to trigger their anti-predator behaviors. Grabbing quickly at it's head and neck is a sure way to send the snake into a panic.

Also, you should have 2 hides in the cage - one on the warm end, one on the cool end. If it's been under the cool hide for a while, that might be a good time to work on handling -- warm/hot snakes can be REALLY fussy

Best of luck,
Paul

Thanks so much for all of your replies!!! They have all been super helpful!