Reptile & Amphibian Forums

(Sorry, no photos yet. He is still being acclimated to his new 100-gallon vivarium.)

I just swapped my Cal King for a Gopher Snake that I thought is a Pacific specimen based on colors & markings: not highly brown nor tan, no dark lines on neck, no red nor strong rust on tail.

I’ve seen many Great Basin specimens; he does not resemble them. I’ve only seen one Pacific specimen, but it was a typical light brown color.

Prior owner has no idea where the snake came from; it was a re-homed snake. I’m not even certain that it was captive-bred, but it has been in captivity at least 6 months.

This snake’s colors are highly unusual. Top is dark greenish brown, sides are yellowish green. His colors & patterns remind me of Moss Agate.

My online searches of photos resembling *green* gopher snakes find rare matches. Ironically, the only two matches found are of Great Basin specimens. I may need to rely on scale count to be certain of his subspecies.

1. Has anyone seen greenish Pacific or Great Basin specimens?
2. Knowing how variable this species can be in color & patterns, which subspecies is your guess?

1.0 Pantherophis guttatus
1.0 Pituophis catenifer catenifer?

This is why I thought he was a Pacific, but the photo is very deceptive.

Seeing him live, he is much more green than photo suggests. He is almost Leopard Frog green. Sides are yellow-green.
Link

Soes anyone else you know see green?

Green? I see a base color of straw (typical), brown saddles and reddish brown between the saddles. Classic wild Pacific. Here's a wild noenate that may eventually look like this adult...

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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

Sort of faint gray green in person but way hard to capture in photo. A local wc individual.

Sometimes a faint hint of gray green if light is just right.
CB babies.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

My oldest Pacific with a lot of yellow.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Oh my, I REALLY like that one!
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I'm Dutch. Somebody shoot me.

Don't see any green my friend.

Even if the snake did have "green" it would hardly be a determining factor as to which subspecies it is. Great Basins and Pacifics are highly variable.

Wild Santa Clara County Pacific Gopher:

Third Eye Herp

Man, Tim, you really span the forums! I recall that you had the Russian Rat Snakes hatchlings for sale previously. You must be quite savvy about different snake species.

You're probably right about the green shade. I'm convinced that mine is a Pacific phase.

In a Pacific Northwest Reptiles book from Lone Pine Publishers, I found photos of both young & adult specimens caught near Corvallis, OR. (I've been to that EE Wilson reserve and saw a Gopher snake there.) They have the murky green tinge to them, and are labeled as the "northern Willamette".

I live within 1.5 hours of that location. It is highly possible that mine was wild-caught, maybe from that location or somewhere similar in the central Willamette Valley.

He's a pacific, I saw him for sale too.

Nice looking gopher! Pretty classic looking Pacific gopher with coloration well within the normal range for the species. IS probably a wild caught individual if it's linage does not clearly indicate otherwise.
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______________________________________________________________"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

I agree with Pit_fan. Classic Pacific Gopher.
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I'm Dutch. Somebody shoot me.

Now I regret that I posted the photo link. As I mentioned originally, the photo is *deceiving*. It shows normal, classic colors, I know. The snake is NOT that color, however, as I learned when I went to get it. (Photo is from the original owner's online ad.)

The snake is Moss Green - a *very* green color. He is so green, glossy & moist looking that he looks like a Taiwan Beauty Snake.

I've seen dozens of gopher snakes, in at least 8 states, but I've never seen one so GREEN. Maybe later I can get good photos.

Try a shot or two outdoors in natural light. Just avoid strong sunlight, a bright overcast is best. Use a hide box, let the snake crawl inside, then lift and snap a few before it wants to move off. Works real well. Snake pix indoors in a tank or in tupperware, etc. almost never brings out true colors...

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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

Outdoor conditions were perfect where I live today so here's a couple that I snapped within the past 15 minutes, a male striped Pacific gopher of wild origin...

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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

...and my little fatty female striped phase, also outside this afternoon. Perfect conditions for snake pix outdoors today...

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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

I will try outdoor photos soon, when weather permits. Which may be 6-8 months; I live in the Pacific NW. Sunshine is an issue here much of the year. (Not so rainy, just overcast often.)

I've never seen a striped Gopher. Yours is stunning, both for patterns & colors.

Thanks for the replies.

Pacific gophers are special! Nearly all of them are attractive with those rich brown dorsals. The striped phase occurs naturally in at least a four county area west of Sacramento, a wonderfully attractive variation that seems well adapted to the grassland habitats of the expansive Sacramento Delta. Here's a photo of a wild caught adult taken by a friend with typical habitat in the background...

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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

Beautyful variant. Definately one I'll add to my collection, whenever I get the chance.
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I'm Dutch. Somebody shoot me.

The hidebox lifting move is the answer to my problem how to pose the snake outdoors. Holding it in one hand while trying to operate camera with other is very clumsy! I have Rozy, Spitz, Zola and Zaid (the newest patternless bull) whose colors are impossible to capture indoors. Soon as it quits raining I will deploy your method!
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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 cool temperatures this time of year (as long as it's not freezing) will assist in the outdoor photo shoots too. My snakes tend not to be as inclined to cruise off but rather to sit there just long enough for me to get the pix that I want. Infinitely more of a challenge during the summer months when I attempt outdoor photography early and late in the day.
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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

I got an exact measurement of my adult pyros by stretching them out along a tape measure while they were very cool from brumation. No way could that be done once they warm up!

Snake doing weather report:
"Snow expected today expect slow temperatures....later in week clearing trend and conditions will get faster..."
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Too funny but likely true. Imagine what their words would be when it came to feeding time...
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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

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

Too funny, I had to copy this one to my computer...
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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.

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

A well timed and somewhat (perhaps) holiday themed comic...
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"Of course, if you have a roomful of Pituophis, a freezer full of rodents is about as natural and routine as brushing one's teeth." Bart Bruno, 2012.