Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well after a friend of mine and her husband and child thought this was a rattle snake I told them the world was safe from harm and told them it was a native species here and acts like a rattler to fool ppl who don't know better and it works. So it is now in my custody and having fun. Now for the taming part. Any sugg?

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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

Actually, that's a gopher snake. Not sure exactly what species, depends on which part of California it's from.

Bry

gopher/rat/pine bull all the same here im in the nrthn most by NV a few hours. All called the same thing.
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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

gophers, pines, and bulls are now classified as different species. They are all in the same family, just like rat snakes and corn snakes. That looks like a Great Basin gopher to me, Pituophis catenifer deserticola. How big is it? Babies are usually hard to handle, they seem to become calmer as they age. For the most part, gophers are bluff artists, they will hiss and rattle their tails but not strike often. Handle him gently fairly often and he should begin to settle down.

Its a Its a Pacific Gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer catenifer)
my bad, and it's just a baby and we talked as you can see all 13" of it. Calmed right down as long as i moved slowly, which was easier than i thought it would be. Now all i need is a nutral name.

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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

What made you think it was a pacific? If you live in the NE corner of California near NV, you should be out of range for a pacific. That was what I thought when you explained where you were from.

the majority of ppl who have seen it say so and if you look that name up you will see the exact same pattern, besides, someone miht of brought it home, who knows it's a gopher none the less as bulls are blk/yellowish.
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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

The Bull Snake, Pituophis catenifer sayi, is just one of the several subspecies of Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer. Most subspecies look very similar, identical without careful scrutiny. A young Bull Snake will often look like any of the other Gophers. Yours is probably a Pacific P c catenifer or an integrade between catenifer and the Great Basin subspecies deserticola. I am not sure if pure deserticolas are found in N Calif. You are a long ways away from the range of the Bull Snake subspecies. Pine Snakes are a different species but the same genus as the Gophers. Pines are not found in the western US. Rat snakes do not belong to the Pitophis genus and they are not found in Calif. or Nevada.

Anyway, Gophers make fine pets and most tame down nicely. Some do seem to have individual temperaments however but none are dangerous. Their husbandry is typical for colubrids, similar to that for Kings, Rats etc.

Randy
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Firehouse Herps