Reptile & Amphibian Forums

You decide!

This is a photo of Jesse (a yearling Kankakee) and, well, never mind the stage prop that I found. Jesse is a healthy four foot bull of average (OK hefty) proportions weighing in at 1190 grams.

...and then there's my Kingsville red, Ahnuld. Ahnuld is somewhere in the vicinity of seven feet long and weighs in at 4280 grams, nearly four times the mass of Jesse and nearly four years old...

I know it's egg laying/incubation season all over but, got some recent pics of your big bulls? Please post!

Thanks.
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

Great comparison shots of the two snakes; normal and ginormous! lOL! Do you have any theories as to why Ahnuld is so huge?

Rozy and her brother Moz. She has three other brothers that are one third her size. She is almost as big as her parents and is not even a year old.

Those big eggs are this year's bull clutch by same parents. After this photo I wound up tossing the little dented egg as it was infertile. The other ten have veins, hence life. Am hoping for another like Rozy.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Healthy looking youngsters there Bob! Adult size is tied closely to heredity and growth rates to quality of forage and how well they feed. My local Sonorans for example go on and off feed throughout the year. Extended non-feeding periods equate to lower and slower growth rates.

Ahnuld was the largest neonate bull I've seen so far. He was 17 inches long at hatching and about 19 inches by the time I got him. Stayed up the first winter feeding regularly and topped out at five and a half feet in his first year.

Now he is off feed for about two months in the spring and then again for the season after August. When he is in an active feeding phase though, there is no rat too large and he puts the fear of Saint Peter into rabbits...
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

Both look great,but I love that big Kingsville hoss! This is currently my biggest adult,nowhere near the titan that yours is,(about 5.5 ft. and still a bit lean from breeding.)

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Captive born excellence through applied genetic theory...and,astute observations based on a keen sense of the sometimes painfully obvious

Much redder though! Beautiful bull, thanks for sharing.
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

That is a monster! Beautiful snake!
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Robyn@ ShipYourReptiles.com TheReptileReport.com

and ProExotics.com

Thanks Robyn!
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

I don't own bull snakes, but I just wanted to say that one is about 1000 grams larger than my largest female ball python...

Awesome.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

www.youtube.com/reptilenexus

Ironically funny analogy, I like it.
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

Both of yours are awesome specimens, my friend!
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Genesis 1:1

here's a '06 female crumbley that i've posted before. this pic is almost 2 years old showing her at about 7'. she's now slightly longer than her cage which is 8'. from what i've seen, the females generally get much larger than their male counterparts. she now has a daughter that i held back who is 11 months old & a tad over 5'. i kinda suspect that, your boy ahrnold may actually be a female? jmho....

Ahnuld a girl? Shocking thought!
Put him with another adult bull and see... I recently found out one of my pyros was really a dude when I put him in with a proven male and the male tried to drive him off instead of the usual courtship and mating. Mistaking gender with snakes is faily common, even with experienced keepers.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Ha, this is the look I got when I told him someone thought he was a she...

No, Ahnuld is most positively in every respect, a Senoir, just a very big Senoir...
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

Am so relieved Ahnuld is a Señor! Just could not imagine him being a Señorita!

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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

The fact that the siblings are much smaller lends to the notion that the giant either is benefiting from some tiny but significant variation in gene expression, or a hormonal contribution. Rapid growth at the outset as a hatchling would benefit the animal in food gathering as well as predation to some small degree. Another scenario might be a abundant supply of growth hormone right out of the egg to facilitate those advantages, that combined with staying warm and eating through the 1st winter might manifest in the results you see. Magnificent no matter how you look at him...

yeah, he does look a bit irritated. give him an extra rat & tell him it's from me. lol......here's a pic of another bull after i made the same mistake w/ one of my own.

Nothing like a good meal to settle an ornery male bull. Ahnuld is a pretty cool dude most of the time though. He gets a little snorty with me sometimes when he'd rather not be disturbed. Hey, when you get a chance, post some updated pics of that big crumbly. Thanks.
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

In thirty-four years of raising Pits, I have found that the males are larger and have a quicker growth rate than females. Your bullsnake would look much smaller if an average sized man were holding it. Very nice bull.

I'd love to see an updated pic of you holding it for size comparison
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Thanks Billy!
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“You could have a snake for 30 years and the second you leave his cage door cracked, he’s gone, and they’ll never come to you unless you’re holding a mouse in your teeth.” (Bill Haast, 1997).

i have a pretty good sized female but she is about to shed. i think it maybe a prelay shed although i am not sure. it has been quite a while since she was paired up. if she doesn't lay in 15 days or so, i will snap a pic of me holding her if she cooperates. she is not the friendliest.

Great pics for comparison. Ahnuld is AWESOME!!!
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com