Reptile & Amphibian Forums

3 days ago I purchased and Applegate Gopher for my 9 year old son. I'm told by the pet store that he is about 6-8months old and is an albino. On the second day we fed him 2 pinkies and have been told to feed him 2 pinkies every 3 days. His cage is 35"L x 18"H x 15"D. The bottom of the cage has a heat mat at one end (giving 'Gunner' both warm and coooler spots) and is covered in special reptile sand. He has a water dish (cleaned every 2 days), a 'hut', a temperature gage (reading 80-85) and a humidity gage (reading 50). I have also installed a UV light with is turned off at night.

Gunner is gorgeous and I want to keep him that way by giving him the best care and attention we can. So if anyone can offer any advice on feeding, enviroment and handling, please contact me.

Kind Regards to all you fellow reptile enthusiasts
Sandy x

Get rid of the sand. it's not a good substrata for snakes. Use news print, paper towels, Aspen shavings, reptile carpet, pick one. Feed 1 or 2 rodents of appropriate size once or twice a week (appropriate size is: 25% larger in girth than the largest part of the snake). If you want the snake to grow faster feed at the top of the scale. feed less if you want it to grow slower. When it gets to adult size you'll want to adjust its feeding to keep it from getting to fat. I hope this is of some help.
Southampton Herps

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Tim Madsen

Nobody cares how much you know,
Until they know how much you care.

Hi Tim

Thanks for the info. Will ditch the sand and only feed once or twice a week. Dont want him growing too big too soon..lol

Have also bought a log, stone hut and some fake plants for him to 'slither' around on - hopefully to make life a little bit more interesting for him!

Any other tips, please do share

Thanks again
Kind regards
Sandy x

UV isn't necessary for the vast majority of snakes (incuding Pits) and may be injurious to albinos.

Paul Hollander

Hi Paul

Thanks for the info.. Do I need any lighting or is natural daylight ok? Or do I need a heat lamp?

Kind Regards
Sandy x

If the cage is in a room with good light, you probably do not need any extra light inside the cage. The temperature in your first post in this thread is good. If it is maintained without the UV bulb, then you do not need a heat lamp. I might turn off the power at night to give him a cooling-down period, but that's about it.

I'd expect a 6-8 month old gopher snake to be in the neighborhood of 2 feet long. Most of my Pits have been bullsnakes, but I could feed them a medium adult mouse a week by the time they were 20 inches long. I'd hope that the price of a couple of hoppers or an adult mouce would be less than the price of 4 hoppers a week.

Hope this helps.

Paul Hollander

I agree that you should get rid of the sand and UV light, but most importantly get rid of the under tank heater. One day he will dig through the substrate and sit right on top of it and get burned. Try putting your hand on it and see for yourself, it's probably around 95 degrees. I would buy a digital thermometer with probe from Radio Shack for around ten bucks. Using the probe you can get accurate temps from every spot in the tank. Keep the room temperature around 80 during the day and high 70s at night. Any excess heat source will add stress and lead to poor feeding and health. I also recommend using shredded Aspen. It's safe, easy to clean and they love to tunnel through it. Plastic plants and vines are good exercise for him; for low maintenance stick them to the walls with suction cups. Also make sure the water dish is big enough for him to fit in so he can cool off and hydrate easily. As for feeding, you should only feed him once every seven to ten days. Give him two or three mice that are the same girth as his mid section. He will probably stop eating after three and that will be his limit until he gets bigger. Good luck with your new Gopher.

Hi NZ

Thanks for the info. Your point about the mat was something I was cocerned about when I saw him dig under the sand yesterday. As far as I can see he hasn't burnt himself but then he wasn't under for very long (for obvious reasons I guess).

The digital temperature probe you mention - is this purley to show what the temperature is inside the tank or does it also emitt heat? If not then I guess I need to invest in a heat lamp because when the UV lamp goes off, the temperature reduces to 75 and without the heat mat too then the temperature will drop even further. I must admit tho, he does spend most of his time on the sand over the mat.

The local pet shop where 'Gunner' was bought from, does not have shredded Aspen so could you recommend a web site where I can buy some from?

Once again thanks for your help
Kind Regards
Sandy x

The thermometer you got from the pet store is not accurate and only gives you the ambient temperature. The digital thermometer with probe will allow you to measure the temps directly on top of the heat pad and under the uv light. This way you can safely determine what changes you have to make. Which room in the house do you keep him in and what is the average daily temperature in there? If you decide to keep the heating mat you should have a thermostat for it so it automatically turns off when the temps get too high. It's not safe to keep the mat plugged in 24/7. I buy shredded aspen in bulk from Petsmart. They should have it available online. Hope this helps.

Hi NZ

Being in the UK, it is difficult to say what the living/dining room temperature is as the weather fluctuates so much and the heating is off and on all the time!! I guess it's around 50-60 right now.

Your other info about the temperature prob I have noted and thank you. Perhaps I should have spoken to this site before buying 'gunner' and his equipement!!! Would have saved a lot of time and energy...lol

Thank again
Kind regards
Sandy x

When you buy that digital thermometer (also available from hardware places like Home Depot), get one with a memory function (costs only a bit more). That way, you can see the maximum and minimum temperatures that your snake is exposed to. Depending on the cage set-up and location, those temperatures may vary more than you think.

Hi blackpine

Thanks for the info on the thermometer. I shall scower the local petstores and see what I can find. or try the internet.

Kind Regards
Sandy x