Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...including some new additions...

Sonoran's

Great Basin

San Diego's

Pacific's (Yes Bob, I finally succeeded...)

Ahnuld-the-Red (Kingsville)

Kankakee (Illinois side)

Thanks fer vis'tin. See everyone again next year...

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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).

Like!!! (all of them)
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I'm Dutch. Somebody shoot me.

Thanks Herman!
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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'm drooling over those annectens

They are both three year old siblings. Hope to find a high color male to pair her with next year...
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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).

Now THAT my friend, is a nice collection.

Thanks! A very rewarding hobby it is...
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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).

Stellar photos of perfect specimens!

I love the photos with the rising or setting sun!!
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Genesis 1:1

Thanks Billy! Always looking for better ways to capture the beauty of these animals...
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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).

Sorry to reply so late. Have been away from computer lately.

I like how you have posed your snakes in a natural light and background setting. Also really like your striped Pacifics!
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Hey Bob, you still have any of your stripey's?
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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 just have Zola, but no male, although I do have a couple of blotched males she could be paired with.

Zola this spring. she is a big girl and can possibly be bred next spring.

Aside from my patternless bull pair, which are still babies, I have no plans to do much with pituophis in the future as there doesnt seem to be much demand for them. Everybody wants the pyros so that is what I am mainly concentrating on breeding. The pits are great pets and I really don't see why they are not more popular.

Are you going to breed your stripers?
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

That Zola is a really pretty striper. Mine are just babies less than two months old. I currently have a male and female striped phase, female pictured below...

...and a female nominate (typical pattern). As for breeding, anything I do will be strictly for fun and on a limited basis with F1 stock. With my striped phase for example, I'm going to wait until at least 2016 when the female is at least four. May hatch some Sonoran eggs next year and could (COULD) possibly be pairing Ahnuld for the first time. He will be five next year. More on that as it develops...
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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).

Here's some pics of my Pacific trio as newborns...

female striped

male striped

nominate

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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).

Those are some sweet little bbies!
Zola is an 09, so next year should be just fine breeding. I will pair her with Lorenzo, my 08 normal.

One of the five babies Lorenzo and his mate Zumbida made this spring. This is an odd clutch for pituophis, as three of them eat well but two have not eaten at all. I will cool them and hope for better feeding response in the spring.

Ahnuld should for sure be allowed to spread his genes! I wish he could do that with Rozy. She is only 14 months old and almost five feet long; pics later.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Those feeding pattern differences between clutchmates is interesting. In my experience, females are more reliable, regular feeders and males are variable (some good, some mediocre and some poor). Among my three Pacific's, all three of the aforementioned feeding patterns are present.

The striped male is definitely my problem child. Generally seems more restless and spends more of his time cruising than the other two. He fed well on pinky mice but generally took fewer of them than the other two. When I transitioned them over to fuzzy mice, he accepted them somewhat reluctantly and has been highly variable since. He is in a higher traffic area of the house though so thinking of swapping locations with one of the better adjusted snakes. Sometimes, a relocation to a new cage can make all the difference. I'll find out between now and about next weekend...
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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).

Although I am not happy to hear you have a problem child as well, I am relieved to learn I am not the only one who has stubborn baby Pacifics. I agree the females seem to be better feeders. Zola's brother died because he would not eat when he was a neonate. The other little male I had for Zola that my friend lost was also a sporadic feeder and Zola got twice as big as him in just a few months. I have a clutch of ten pyros that all eat like pits, and have never lost a pyro to not eating, even if once in a great while I have had to make it eat a lizard.
These little Pacifics are a new one on me! LOL! Good luck ith your stubborn child and let me know how things work out with it.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I move the male to a new and quieter area but he is in pre-moult now so it will be at least another week before he will want to feed again. I am confident that he will turn out well. I have a three year old male annectens that started out about the same way. For the first year, he would not take anything but pinky mice. I moved him to a new location and that changed everything. Now, at three, he is not a huge male (nearly four feet) but he is a reliable feeder and is large enough and old enought to breed.

These Pacific's give me a goal for about 2016. My striped neonates are wild caught (probably before they ever got their first meal) so they are not mixed with nor het for anything. Pure F1 striped Pacific gophers. Every other purported striped phase Pacific that I have seen from any captive source has been het for just about everything if not hybridized at some point with annectens and who knows how far north the F-count is with some of them. I don't do hets, mixes, mutts or morphs other than naturally occurring (as in this case). Would ultimately like to produce a few boldly striped individuals someday...
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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).

Pure F1 striped Pacific gophers! Awesome!

I have one wc blotched male but Zola is from Jason Nelson and had an albino sibling. So I don't know what else she may have in her lineage.

If she does not make babies that is okay; she is still a great pet. My only real interest in breeding pits now is my patternless bulls in a few years.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Got confirmation this weekend Bob! By moving a somewhat finicky, temperamental male Pacific gopher out of a higher traffic part of the house to a quiet but well lit area, the finicky feeding has notably diminished. Shed on Friday, took a single fussy mouse Saturday morning followed by another this morning. That feeding response was not happening 1.5 weeks ago. The take home message here: Give those male neonate Pacific's a quiet, well lit area and leave them alone most of the time (give them plenty of space). He's going to be a real looker someday too. This photo of him was taken a little over a month ago. Updates coming this weekend...

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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).

Make that a "fuzzy" mouse...
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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've got mine in a big tub and when I feed them I put the live pinks in a cup under the hide box, so they can come out and eat them in private. Seems to be helping.
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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 night I found him when he was mostly head. Probably a very recent hatchling at this stage and probably before his first meal...

A few weeks later following several meals of pinky mice...

This morning following a recent shed and on a steady diet of fuzzy mice. This little gopher got STRIPES!

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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).

...a typical patterned female...

...and a striped phase female...

Both images taken today, Nov. 3, 2012
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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).

Those are just splendid! You actually found them in the wild; awesome!

Some of my five babies. These are the bigger ones. The two little ones are eating well now; the lives pinks in the cup under the hide box is working. Yesterday when I was checking on them I actually saw one of the little ones with a pink in his mouth! These baby Pacifics are more timid than my baby pyros! LOL! Not at all like the other pits I keep.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Yes, I spent some serious time in the infamous four county area this past neonate season and scored a total of seven striped phase, four of which were DORs. The little female that I kept is more appropriately a "speckled gopher" with one of the more unique patterns that I've seen.

Those little Pacific's look robust. Are they local snakes from the Sierra foothills?
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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).

My babies are from Lorenzo and Zumbida, which I bought from a breeder in Florida, of all places. Since then I have found many wild gophers, but I leave them in the wild unless they are in danger, in which case I release them at my friends's acreage which is heavily gopher infested and away from roads.

Lorenzo is very sociable, liking to hang out in the open on top of his hide box and watch the activity in the house, whereas his mate Zumbida is so shy she is hardly ever seen and has to be fed in a cup under the hide box. I take him out of the cage to feed her, as he is a big pig, too.

Them this spring making those babies!

A little wild gopher I rescued from a cat a few years ago. This is what they look like in my neck of the woods; no stripers, alas.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I think my cb pair are more annectens than catenifer.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.