Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have an albino sonoran gopher going on 5 months old. he is about as long as a persons forearm and hand. when i first brought him home he would be real defensive with the tail rattling, huffing, striking, etc. i've had him since aug/sept and he was calming down. let me pick him up whenever.
i was handling him yesterday and went to put him back into his tank and he got real defensive with the striking posture, huffing, tail rattling.
when do they calm down? or do they? i have other snakes. 2 of them corns and they are real docile with handling. are gophers as calm with handling as corns when they are bigger and older?
i just don't want a snake that is going to try to eat me everytime i go to handle him.
i know he is still a baby and is just defending himself but please tell me if they outgrow this behavior and become docile captives. thanks anyone.

For me...all my pits have been completely docile except for one or two. There could be many factors as to why your snake may get defensive.

First..how warm do you keep him? I keep my pits at 82 at the very most. Pits do great on lower temps.

Second...what is his hiding situation in his cage like? Do you have a good hiding place for him, so that he can feel completely secure?

Remember...the eyesight of albinos is not as good as snakes that are not albinos. They may see movement as more threatening. BUT even if that were true...all my albinos seem calm and do not do much in the vein of displaying behaviour. My adult albino sonoran is very docile and has always been.

Hope this helps!
Billy
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Genesis 1:1

thanks. i house him in a 10 gallon size tank with short sides. i have a human heat pad set on low on 1/3 of the tank. he has a couple of hides. one a paper towel roll he hangs out in most of the time.
i didn't know albinos have poorer eye sight. that could explain his defensiveness. i look forward to him becoming more docile as he gets bigger.
thanks again for some insight.

Yeah...I use those paper towel rolls as well. Snakes really seem to like those!

Just make sure he is not too warm. That sounds cool if the pad is only under 1/3 under the cage.

How much do you handle him regularly, if at all? I have found that frequent handling really helps as well. I am having to do this now with my most mentally freaked out snake I own currently..which is my trans pecos rat snake.

Take care!
Billy

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Genesis 1:1

Don't worry; they do calm down as they get older.

It's interesting that your gopher was upset when you were putting him back. My black pine reacts similarly. She is almost 5 feet long and she's pretty docile but, every once in a while, she gives me attitude when I'm putting her back in her cage (not when I take her out). You gotta love pits... they've got personality!

funny pits
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Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
0.1 Crested Gecko "Camey"; 1.0 Crested Gecko "Spots" RIP