Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just recently (two weeks ago) caught a 7 foot 3 inch Bull snake. He/she is very calm. It never hisses and has never offered to bite. I do have one dilema though! I cannot get it to eat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
If it helps this guy/gal was collected in Val Verde County, Texas off of Highway 277 @ Buffalo Creek.
Thanks,
Gilbert

Wow! that's huge. How did you measure? As far as getting it to eat. What all foods have you tried. It's usually a matter of finding what it will eat and then tricking it into eating what you want it to eat. It may not be able to adapt to captivity. Make sure it's stress level is extremely low. Put it in a low to no traffic area and leave it alone. If you try to feed it and it refuses. Wait a few days or even a week to try again. I'd say if it's not eating after a month, put it back. It sucks to lose such an awesome animal but the number one priority is to make sure it survives and breeds next year.
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International Snakes Meetup

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If it doesn't eat live rat pups when first offered, something else is probably going on. i.e gravid, stressed, off feed male, in shed, sick. Otherwise, I'd be surprised if it didn't eat them right off the bat. Once you get it going you can switch to dead adult rats/mice.

I appreciate it! I will try that and yes, I would definitely return it to the wild before I cost it it's life. The way I measured was holding it while my wife measured. It was curled up in some areas so I know it is longer than that and extremely thick. The first thing that comes to mind is a boa. As far as being healthy I am going to have a fecal exam ran once it poops. It appears to be very healthy.
I currently have it in the quarentine room in a stackable (old timey) 4 foot Neodesha. It is approximately 2 foot deep as well. I am using a really big hide and the substrate is Aspen bedding. The back side of the cage is at approximately 89 degrees and the cool end 70 to 75 degrees.
I am being so specific because I want to make sure I am not messing up anywhere.
Do you think if I take some live rat pups and put them in like a open shoe box that would possibly intice him?
On an animal that big how deep should a male or female probe?
Thanks,
Gilbert

89* is a tad high...i'd drop that down some. also, you may have a gravid female there if she's really that thick. and, a deli cup would be a better choice than a shoe box to put the pups in. leave them overnight if need be. keep us posted.....

With my pits I've always had the most success putting the food at the entrance to the hide or even better, in the hide with the snake. The only problem with this is that if they don't eat it it can be very stressful for the snake to have a rat in it's hide box with them.
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International Snakes Meetup

So far knock on wood, I have never had a wc bull refuse the food. I am assuming you know all the temp requirements and everything to properly care for it so I won't go into that, but I do suggest the following;

As the other poster suggested, make sure the stress level is as low as possible. Provide a good hide bow (snake that size, probably need a 55 gal trash can, lol)and place the crawler rat into the hide box with the snake and close the hide box up or block the snake from getting out and then leave it alone for a while. Typically this works well with any snakes.

On releasing the animal if it doesn't eat....not sure I would do it if you keep it in captivity too long, but only 1-2 months in captivity if it was kept away from other animals is probably ok. However, this is one case I would not release it near where it was found. An animal that size will eventually end up as a dor. We saw one on 277 a few weeks ago that was a little over 7 foot, it was impossible to stradle the animal.

Just my thoughts.

dc

Daryl's gotthe right trick, in my opinion, but I'd inprove on it by using a hide box with a hole in the top (like a closed, empty vereal box with a hole cut into one flat side). This mimics the bullsnake crawling down into a burrow. Put a few small, peach fuzzy rats into that, and leave the snake alone overnight in the dark. You can even make the box more interesting by putting a little used rodent litter into the box with the peach rats. This has worked with all of my healthy picky-feedr bullsnakes.

Of course, if it is a WC, bring it to a vet immediately. The internal parasite load may have just been high (or increased fast in captivity due to the restrived quarters and stress levels) for him to feel like eating. That would be my FIRST suggestion.

>>On releasing the animal if it doesn't eat....not sure I would do it if you keep it in captivity too long, but only 1-2 months in captivity if it was kept away from other animals is probably ok. However, this is one case I would not release it near where it was found. An animal that size will eventually end up as a dor. We saw one on 277 a few weeks ago that was a little over 7 foot, it was impossible to stradle the animal.

You know my opinion on this matter: better a DOR than a gene polluter and better NEVER released back into the wild after being in a captive collection. As sad is it is for that individual snake, it is just too little gin (for the individual) to justify the harm (to the population). I better get off this topic before I start ranting abouty all of the alterna guy tht let their sickly, unfeeding alterna go instead of keeping them in captivity and euthanizing them or working with them harder. A captive snae belongs in captive and NOT back into the wild (except as a research-orient restocking program, and such, of course.)

KJ

Actually, KJ I would love to hear your rant on this subject. I'm always trying to form a concrete opinion on this. I'd love to hear what others think.
P.S. I totally agree about the hide box with the hole in the top. I use that with all my snakes not just the pits.
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International Snakes Meetup

that it is a gravid female (not wsanting to eat), bit late but possible.

Also go to the same area and find a road kill rodent and put that in the cage at night and see what happens.

Kerby...

In addition to the good advice you've already received, you might want to try feeding chicks. I've had pituophis that go off feed for one reason or another but never seem to refuse a F/T chick left in their hidebox. (never tried it with bulls but pines seem to relish them)

Like others mentioned, be sure to keep this snake quarantined from the rest of your collection in case you have no choice but to release it.
Good luck,
Chris

For some reason only known to the powers that be, 277 in Valverde County , Texas grows some big bull snakes. If I were you, I would offer a dead small rat once a week. This snake can go without food for 4 or 5 months if it is really stubborn. You might want to try a gerbil. This is as close as you can get to a k-rat. I got a stubborn wild caught adult Trans-Pecos rat snake going using this ploy. Someone suggested rat pups. This may be your best bet, but needless to say, a litter would make a meal. I have another wild caught Trans-Pecos rat snake that will only take rat pups, and only if they aren't too big. I've kept him going for four years now indulging his finicky ass. Such is the life of a keeper. You gotta do what you gotta do when you take adult snakes out of the wild.

Gilbert,

Everyone has given great advice on this. My two cents is this.

You mentioned you were keeping it at 89 degrees on one end of its' cage. I would lower the temp on that end. I keep all my pits at 78-82 AT THE MOST. In my experience, when I first got pits, I kept them at higher temps and had the worst luck. Now, I have it at the previously mentioned temps and never have a picky snake.

Hope this helps!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

Thanks Billy and to everyone else! I am going to try these different ideas.
Gilbert