My son found a small 8" gopher snake while on a picnic here in LA today. If anyone can help with care/feeding suggestions, I would very much appreciate it. The snake is too small to eat a mouse so my question is what would constitute a healthy diet for this juvenile?? Many, many thanks!
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HELP! My son found a young gopher snake...
tabmurphy
May 31, 2004 08:19 PM
Replies (4)
metalpest
May 31, 2004 10:52 PM
The snake is big enough to take down pinkies, start with one of those each week. Dont keep it in too high of heat, 80 degrees is about as hot as they require.
Tabmurphy
Jun 01, 2004 08:42 AM
Thanks for the reply! Are 'pinkies' something you can get from a pet store?
metalpest
Jun 02, 2004 12:14 AM
Yeah you should be able to. Just ask them for a pinkie, its a newborn hairless mouse. They should be pretty cheap too, like a dollar. I havent kept any gophers for any significant period of time but I have heard that they go on "off feed". This means they may suddenly reject food for a period of about a month, and then regain normal eating, just for a heads up. If the snake is aggressive, do not worry. The young gophers are generally more aggressive in my experience, larger gophers seem to be more tame. I note this from coming across them in the wild, we take measurements but dont keep them at this time due to lack of space.
tabmurphy
Jun 02, 2004 03:57 AM
Just wanted to say THANKS for your advice. Very much appreciated.
