Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently become highly interested in members of the Pituophis genus. In fact I just purchased two bullsnakes. As I surf the web looking at pics of pines/bulls/gophers, I find that my untrained eye has a great deal of difficulty in telling the difference between gophers and bulls. Does anybody have any tips or pointers or keys to identification that would help me?

Study lots and lots of pictures. (Better yet, live animals every chance you get!)

In my quest to learn the exact same thing you're asking, I've figured out that the best way to tell is to know the location that the snake is from. Barring that...just getting to know all the different nuances of pattern and coloration. And that only comes through experience and study. There's no single tell-tale sign you can point out and say "all gophers look like this while all bulls look like that."
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1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)
1.0 bearded dragon (Shaggy)

Great to see you hear Judy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Awwww...quit...yer makin' me blush. LOL

Now when do I see you on the other side?
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--Judy

1.0 red cape gopher (Caesar)
1.0 bearded dragon (Shaggy)

ball-pythons.net
(It's NOT just ball pythons!)

Bulls tend to have a much more "prominent" rostral(nose)scale. It is normally higher than it is wide. Their heads appear to be "pointier" than Gopher's from a bird's eye view. Bullsnakes generally have a heavier build and become larger than Gophers. Just my opinion.