Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i bought a albino sonoran gopher last year, sometime in aug i think. the dealer said he was hatched in july so he's 6 months old, or there abouts.
i try to handle him everyday, or at least every other day, for like 1/2 hour at a time. problem is the more i handle him the madder he seem to get. i had him out last night for a good half hour and he just wanted out of my hands. he uses his whole body strength to try to get away. when i put him back into his tank he got even more madder with the hissing, tail rattling, etc.
i don't think this is a snake for me so was wondering if dealers at shows do any trading for a snake i would like. my corns, milk and jungle carpet python are just pets to me so haveing this guy who doesn't like being held is really not a pleasure to have as a pet.
any advise on finding a home or trading him? he is very pretty otherwise but sure isn't a pleasure to handle. thanks.

Most people will tell you that snakes aren't "pets" in the sense of a lot of handling/interaction, etc, and with good reason. Whether a n individual animal tolerates(notice I didn't use the word "enjoys" handling or not, subjecting them to it for half an hour probably isn't a good idea.

In the specific case of your gopher, you definitely do not want to stress it for half an hour. You would be better off picking it up twice a day for two minutes than handling it for half an hour. Also, many specimens never acclimate to handling until they are a year or two old, regardless of how often they are handled. Gophers will tend to be more high strung than a corn snakes, so the difference should be expected(milk snakes often are, too, perhaps you have an exception). In summary, it may grow out of the behavior, but if you insist on handling your animals often, then maybe a gopher isn't the right thing for you.

As far as trades go, it's hard to say what breeders will or won't do, but don't get your hopes up unless it's someone that deals with gophers in particular. If you approach the person you got it from, they would hopefully understand and work something out, provided the animal is in good health, etc.
P&S Pituophis

While I can not offer a triad and maybe not a whole lot of money if you need a home for the individual let me know via email. How much did you pay for it? If affordable I can pay you what you paid for it so you wont be out any money. This is all contingent of course on its good health so on and so forth. If interested let me know and possible send a few pictures. Were are you located?
My reptile collection and research

thanks for the offer. i have gotten some advise and i'm going to see how he does a little bit longer. i paid 65 dollars for him at a show in Tucson, Az. I live in the Phx metro area.