Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My girlfriend bought me a bullsnake for my birthday (just a couple of weeks ago) from a kid who came into the pet shop where she works trying to sell it. She said he'd been feeding it live prey and using sand from outdoors as a substrate. He's about three and a half feet long, and I have him on a combination of newspaper and aspen bedding in a 20-gallon long thank, and his temps are just fine. He's been eating F/T fuzzies like they're going out of style.

Anyway, he's incredibly active compared to my other snakes. It's rare to see him doing anything other than roving around his tank and rubbing against the front-left corner (to such a degree that he's developing a spot on his nose). He makes a lot of quick, nervous movements even when the lights are out and no one's around. He makes quite a bit of noise tossing around his bedding about 20 hours a day, which I can certainly get used to as long as I stop worrying that he's having siezures or something. I just want to make sure this seems unusual only because I'm accustomed to my mellow cornsnakes, and not because I'm caring for him improperly. I guess what I need is some reassurance. Thanks in advance for any replies.
Tom-El Paso
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0.1.1 Corn Snakes (Prudence, Leviathan)
1.0 Western hognose (Kramer)
0.0.1 Ball Python (Monty)
0.0.1 Bull Snake (Farvel)

Hey Tom,

It could be a number of things about this snake being active. Here are some thoughts:

1. He could be wild caught and has not tamed down. Or he could be CB and was never held much. Some regular handling may help.

2. He does not feel secure. Does he have a hiding spot?

4. How warm is he? What are the temps you are keeping him at? I ask cause pits do great at 78-82. Whenever I kept them warmer, I would see kinda the same thing with some.

5. You say you are feeding him fuzzies. From the size you described of this snake, that may be a little too small of a food item. He should be able to eat small to medium adult mice. He could still be very hungry and a bigger food item, probably no bigger than his widest body girth, could be the trick to him mellowing out and digesting for a while.

All my bull snakes, and pits, are very tame and laid back, but at the same time..that can vary from each individual snake as well.

Keep us posted! Take care!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

I think you may be right about him not being handled much. From what I'm told the kid who sold him seemed like an impulse buyer who had become disillusioned with snake ownership so he might have been a little neglected.

He's got one of those little plastic cave hiding spots that he uses quite often, plus a wrapping paper tube and a water bowl that has an opening on the side so he can get under it. I've also put some shredded newspaper in the tank so he can dig around in it and hopefully feel like he's under leaf litter or something.

His temps are right around 85 degrees, so I'll see what I can do to knock it down a couple of notches.

I was curious about food size, so I'm glad you addressed that. I'm having a hard time finding medium sized adults- all the shops here seem to go from fuzzy to jumbo, but I'll be placing an order online soon to circumvent the problem.

Thanks for the quick reply- I'll let you know what happens and post some pictures soon.
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0.1.1 Corn Snakes (Prudence, Leviathan)
1.0 Western hognose (Kramer)
0.0.1 Ball Python (Monty)
0.0.1 Bull Snake (Farvel)

Just wanted to add that you should definently find some good sized meals for her. That will help settle it down. My '04 bull eats rat pups and pretty soon will be moving to weaned rats! Not sure exactly how big she is but most be close to 40" so I think that will be a good guideline for yours. I order from rodentpro.

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Matt from Minnesota

Yeah...finding some appropriate sizes in pet shops can be sometimes hard. Before I ordered online or from mouse breeders, I had a heck of a time trying to get the exact size for what I needed. You don't want to feed something way bigger than it should eat to avoid regurgitation, but you don't want to feed it something too small so that it can get a good meal.

There is a place called The Mouse Factory that is in Alpine, which is in your side of TX, I think. Shipping wouldn't be that bad probably, and they are a good company with all different sizes. Check them out.

My female TX bull who will be 3 this year is at least around 45 inches or so, I feed her either small or medium adult mice. She does real well on that, plus it keeps her on the leaner side, versus being overweight.

Your cage seems perfect!!! As far as temps..yeah..I would try to get it down to 82 at the very most and maybe try as low as 78.

Keep us posted!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1

I found an appropriately sized mouse and after eating it the snake has calmed down quite a bit. It's like a night and day difference! Thanks again for the help.
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0.1.1 Corn Snakes (Prudence, Leviathan)
1.0 Western hognose (Kramer)
0.0.1 Ball Python (Monty)
0.0.1 Bull Snake (Farvel)

Vegan power!

Great to hear! Very cool!!!!!!

Post some pics of your bull snake whenever you can!

Take care!

Billy
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Genesis 1:1