Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've wandered around this site for quite a while but haven't posted until now. I hate for this to be my first post. I have a 4.5 foot male bullsnake that I was told was triple het for albino when I bought him. Yesterday while out taking a walk I caught what turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL female Paficic gophersnake. I brought it home to take some pictures with the plan of releasing it today. The female is a little larger than the male.

I did something incredibly stupid and put the gophersnake in the male's cage for a few minutes while I cleaned a cage for her. I came back and they were mating, which is how I discovered the gopher was a female. I seperated them immediately (once they had stopped). My dilemma is as follows. Pacific gophersnakes in my area are becoming extremely sparse. Is there a possibility that this snake will now produce hybrids when I release her? If so, what impact could it have on the general gopher snake population? I do not want to keep this female because I'd just be part of the problem causing them to vanish. There is a wildlife center that I may be able to bring it to, but I don't know if they would take it since it's a healthy animal.

This is a situation that actually goes a bit beyond the impact of what may incur, should the WC female produce a clutch from the single mating with your male.
There can also be ramifications involving pathogens teh WC female could have picked up, while in your care, which your CB specimen has a resistance to, yet the WC 0.1 has none. These could easily be spread to the existing population and create havoc among the wild population. That's why most states maintain various ordinances regarding the re-release of taken wildlife. You may want to check with your local department of natural resources, game and fish commission or wildlife service to this regard.
Also, if there is a chance the female is gravid. I would definitely contact one of the above listed entities to this regard. You could actually be breaking a few laws by releasing such a specimen back into the wild.
My suggestion would be to take the specimen to a nature center, museum, university or another "worthwhile" entity, describe the circumstances surrounding the specimen and let them handle the situation as they see fit.
I am certain you will be more careful in the future, so I am just going to leave it at that.

Best regards,

Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.526.4856

See--I told you there was somebody smarter!!!! Good word Jeff!

Preacher Pat

You do have a dilemma! You don't want to release a snake that may be developing eggs. So you could keep her until you are sure or until she lays eggs. Then destroy the eggs before they develop, build her back up and then release her. But then you might be releasing her with something she picked up while in your care that might be adverse to the population. So you could just keep her, feel bad that she is out of the wild and start taking pictures of wild stuff where you find them. This is probably the best avenue to take. Just please don't hatch out any mutts!!! Somebody much smarter than me probably has a better idea. BTW, any chance of you posting a picture of the female?

Preacher Pat

I do have some pictures of her. I don't have anywhere to upload them to unfortunately. I'll see if one of my friends have space on their server.
For the record this is DEFINITELY a one time mistake. I still can't believe I did something so stupid. I've kept snakes all my life, and I should have known better. Normally I would take pictures of them in the wild, but I wasn't prepared for this one.

Hey, no problem! If everyone was perfect (including me!) I wouldn't have a job!!!! Life is just full of little wonders!! If I didn't make the mistakes I make I'd never learn anything!!
Take care--

Preacher Pat

As promised here are the pictures. This is my pride and joy...well, one of them. This is the male bullsnake.

And here is the female I caught. AMAZING snake. One of the most beautiful gophers I've ever seen. Just to give a sense of scale, the tiles they're sitting on are 2"x2" tiles.

And one more picture of the gopher snake.

Keep the snake in quarantine until she drops the eggs. Then release her. That is the best advice I have.
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