Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recieved help in this forum before on the topic of my wild caught sd gopher snake(a true beauty). I have had it for 1 week and two days. I have fed it a common mouse totally sucessfully. It is four feet long and its estimated diameter is 2and 1/2 inches. I have a four foot long tank with a lang water dish and large hiding area that i contain it in. It is non agressive. I was wondering if i should use bigger feeding items or feed it more often. My original plan was to feed it one common mouse twice a week since they are fairly small. Any lighting needed? It is in my bedroom and recieves a 12 hour light period per day at about 80 degrees. I use no light fixtures but i was wondering if i should. Give me some prefrences or sugestions but the debate of collecting or keeping wild animals is not open for debate.

It should be just fine the way you are keeping it. the only thing I might do differently is to heat one end of the cage a little bit more so it can go back and forth from a "warm" are to a "cool" area to thermoregulate.

As far as feeding, I prefer to feed adult colubrid snakes once a week. For an adult Gopher Snakes, two mice once a week should be sufficient. One thing to watch for with wild caught snakes is that they tend to carry a pretty good parasite load. Look for loose or runny or mucousy stools and such. Normally, in the wild, the parasite load is no problem, but when you combine the stress of being captured and placed in captivity with the smaller "home range" area, the parasites can cause the snake to begin to exibit symptoms. If they are carrying parasites that have a direct life cycle, then they can re-infect themselves because of the small area they are confined to. Strict cage hygiene is a must with fresh-caught specimens. If you notive any symptomes, you should get a stool sample to a vet.

I don't see any issues with taking something like a Gopher Snake from the wild for your personal collection, as long as it isn't prohibited by law in your state and you are willing to provide the best possible care for it. I may have a problem with commercially collecting them in this day and age when so many people are breeding them already or taking something that is rare or endangered, but that's not what you did.

Thanx for the major help and if you feel like you need to say more feel free to do so. Watch for more posts from me cause im sure I will need more help. Thanx again.