Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I went to the Tucson Reptile show this past weekend and bought an albino sonoran gopher snake. It's real pretty. I wasn't looking for anything in particular...just what ever cought my eye. I have 2 corns, a milk and a carpet python already. This is my first gopher snake.

I am going to search for care sheets but was wondering how you all have yours housed. I've read a desert enviroment? Right now he's (the dealer assures me it's a he and was hatched 7-11-04) in a 5 1/2 gallon tank that I had with a human heat pad. Also paper towel as substrate, couple bandaid boxes for hides and water bowl. He ate his first f/t pinky for me this morning. He is real pretty with the lemon yellow coloring.

Thanks anyone who replies.

At the show. I got a female.

the guy selling them said he sold like 4 on saturday. How do you like yours? Mine is doing fine. Love his coloring.

I like mine. A guy I know got 3 and I got 1 on saturday. They are real neat. I will post a picture later this week. Did you go on saturday? Did you see my pit?

No, I couldn't go till Sunday. Mine was his last albino he had.

Hey...congrats on your first Pituophis. As far as care, it's pretty straight forward with these guys....5.5 gallon sounds good for now, but knowing how gophers grow, he'll outgrow that pretty quick. Provide a water bowl, warm temps and a hide spot, and you have the basics covered. For bedding, I use aspen shavings, but newspaper works fine too. Feed him a pinky every 4-5 days until he's a bit bigger, then feed him a hopper every 7-10 days. Once he's adult, you won't have to feed him but an adult rat every couple of weeks. Keep the temps in the high 70's-low 80's preferably with a thermal gradient (i.e. most of the heat on one side of the cage). I like cork bark as a hide spot, but if he's using your bandaid box, then stick with that until he gets too big for it. Good luck!

-Kris

How big do they actually get? I have been reading about sonoran gopher snakes and some care sheets say 4-5 foot. Then one care sheet said 6-7 foot. I have a Jungle Carpet Python that is close to 6 foot eating large rats now. My corns and milk are on mice. I buy f/t. The only food I can get at Petco is pinkies, fuzzies, and adult mice or sm, med, large rats.

Albino Sonorans, or Sonorans in general have been around 5 or 6 feet from the adults I have seen. There could be a possibility that they can get 7 feet, but that may be rare....?

Here is my albino Sonoran. He is about 5 feet and while he could eat small rats, he does good on one big adult mouse every other week.

Did you say this was your first pit? If so...great choice! As far as albino snakes of any kind, I think that albino Sonorans are the prettiest, most variable, and there is never an ugly one to be found!

Take care!
Billy

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Genesis 1:1

An adult size for a Sonoran gopher would be typically in the 4-5 foot range. However, they CAN get into the 6-7 foot range. I once saw a 6 ft. Sonoran, and he was awesome. A 4-5 foot adult Sonoran would have absolutely no difficulty eating a medium rat every couple of weeks. My Northern Pines are approx. 4 ft. right now, and they are actually doing quite well on a medium rat every 14 days or so...

It sounds like you have quite the collection...Rather than paying high retail prices for your rodents at Petco, you might consider buying a bunch of frozen rodents and storing them in a freezer. I do this, and I find that it saves both time and money...One order can last me 3 months or so.

-Kris

thing is all my snakes are eating something different. my new gopher is on pinkies, my milk: fuzzies, 2 corns: adult mice and my python is large rats. I just don't want to get a bunch of something and have my snakes get to big for the next size meal then I have all these smaller meals and no one to feed them to.
I'm hoping when they are all on adult mice I can do that but for now I just go to Petco every couple weeks and just get a few of each.

I really don't know that much, if anything, about the gopher snakes. It was just so pretty I bought him. Yours looks cool! The breeder I bought him from says they retain their baby colors into adulthood. Is that true? Mine is real pretty now with the lemon yellow and little bit of redish orange spots.

Around 5 foot, huh? What size of tank will he require as an adult. My 6 foot python is in an 80 gallon tank. I'm hoping I don't need something that big for this gopher.

Yeah......just like fine wine...pits get better with age!!!! Those colors will intensify and then you will want to buy more! LOL!

I keep my albino Sonoran and most other adult pits in these real long sweater boxes that I bought at The Container Store that are something like 35 x 18 x 6 1/2. If you are looking for tank size, honestly, IMO, something like a 20 gallon long or slightly bigger will do fine for your snake.

Billy
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Genesis 1:1