Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a quick iphone pic. I have 4 Black Pines now due to Discerns bad influence. " Show me your friends animals and I'll show you your future animals"

A little grumpy sometimes...

( The Black Pines, not Billy )

A 2011 model.

HA HA!!! Brother, if my bad influence succeeded in a result of you obtaining pits, I don't wanna be good!!!!!!!

Love that snake! What an absolute perfect example of a stunning pit!! I am jealous now of that, on top of being jealous of your northerns as well!!!
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Genesis 1:1

Hey! You have a million nice snakes. Let me have a few! Lol

Ah Ha! A big black snake I could actually maintain! The trouble with Eastern Indigos is the hot summer temperatures at my place, with no way to keep them cool enough. A pine snake would be more suitable for my location (and more affordable! LOL!)
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

You got that right Pyro!
I think about going for a Dry ( had one as a kid ) but the pooping, the cost and the pooping are real detterents.

These guys have the size and seem pretty intelligent themselves.


And THESE guys have the cool black thing down REAL well.

The black pines in your pics are extremely black and shiny. Were did you get them from? There is a lot of variation in the quality of the blackness in black pines.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Thanks,
They are nice examples but the one pictured still has some faint banding near the tail. I'm hoping it disappears but it is so faint I think folks less fussy than me won't notice! Lol

My animals are from the Richter line. Some of the nicest I've been able to locate.

My Black Milks are Russ Pascatore stock. Also some of the nicest I've been able to find.

I know what you mean, over the years I've raised up animals to be disappointed in residual banding and its a bit of a heartbreak after all the feeding and cleaning.(Gaigie)

Black Pine >= (Eastern Indigo - the smell)
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I'm Dutch. Somebody shoot me.

They smell but Drys are SO impressive!

I keep both black pines and indigos and both species can empty out a room quickly when they defecate! Ironocally, those are my cleanest cages. They get cleaned as soon as I enter the snake room and inhale that all-to-familiar smell.
Both species are great snakes. Indigos seem a little more aware of their surroundings. Both hiss and bluff (especially pines)and both can be a handfull when they want to move. Black pines try to escape by moving backwards in your hands; indigos try to escape by moving forwards in your hands. Believe it or not, there was a time when black pines were more pricey than indigos!

More pricey than Indigos?
Wow. Although you are getting the reverse gear and air as factory standard these days.

Yes, before breeding colubrids was the norm. I am talking about back when you had to collect your own or buy wild caught. Hard to imagine, but few peopole were breeding colubrids until the late 1970's or early 1980's. Almost everything available was wild caught. We now know that black pines are pretty simple to breed. Indigos, not so easy. Also, eastern indigos are likely more common in the wild than black pines. Black pines have more restricted habitat, distribution and food source (pocket gophers). Indigos are more generalists in their habitat and food preferences. They will essentially eat anything they can get into their mouths. In terms of natural history, these are two very different snakes. Indigos are really just gigantic racers. All they have in common is being big and black (actually, black pines are more brown).

Yes, I've noticed they are dark brown unlike the black of Gaigie.

Interesting comparison.

What kind of wisdom do you have for folks with Pits like me that contemplate getting a Dry but are put off about the reports of Drys being really stinky and smelly?
Are we close with Pits or is the above 2x worse? 1/3 rd worse?

Can you go away on vacation comfortably like with Pits even though Drys need to eat every 3 or 4 days?

Thanks, appreciate your opinions.

Bob.

*Photo by Russ Pascatore I believe. Love this pic.

Dry crap does not smell worse than Pit crap. Drys just produce it more frequently. Lots more frequently. They do not need to be fed every 3 to 4 days. My male eats pretty sporadically during breeding season. Also, once they reach sexual maturity, they do not eat nearly so frequently.
One drawback to eastern indigos is the hassle and cost of securing the Federal permit. It cost $100 and is sort of a pain in the butt, however, it is well worth the trouble. Most important thing is to find a good breeder who has unrelated stock. Because they are Federally protected, the captive breeding stock has been interbred. I really like the Mexican red-tail cribo, also. Not so interbred and no permit required. But they are more expensive than eastern indigos.
To me, the good old northern pinesnake is a great animal and a real bargain, as far as pits go. They get huge and look amazing.

Thanks. I appreciate the thoughts.

Got the Northern Pinesnake thing Already covered thanks to Discerns bad influence. Lol

For the life of me, I have often wondered why northerns are not more popular. Maybe because they do not have morphs; at least I do not think they do. That one in your first pic is beautiful. I really like the high contrasting black and white ones. I never have been able to figure why some species are so popular, while others are virtually ignored. Northerns are really great display animals.

Thanks. I'm new to them. I have 1.2 of the high white ones and they are so mellow and gentle, like a Bairds rat or Transpecos. Sit still in the hand and look at the world kind of animals. The more naturally colored one came with a sibling and were nick named the " Medusa Sisters" right away. They have since mellowed but one of them has stayed a bit flighty.

I know what you mean about some animals being popular and others not. Not to insult what anybody likes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I just don't get the Ball Python or blood Python thing. Boelens, Diamonds etc. Yes! But not really even getting the Hognose fuss either. Oh well. To each his own. There must be a coolness there, I just don't get it. Lol

You said it!!

Northern pines, being my all time favorite snake, are, to me, beyond incredible, and have been a blast to own. Calm, gentle, easy to handle, and amazing to watch grow and flourish. You may be right, since they are not high on the morph list, ( " gotta get into the next big morph craze, braaaaaaaaaah!! : ), maybe it has kept some away, but I will say:

To each their own.
They have no idea what they are missing!!!

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Genesis 1:1

But you knew that! Lol

HA HA!!
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Genesis 1:1

there is nothing fake about that!

i've kept both, and i'll go out on a limb and say.....

i liked the black pines better.

enjoy those!

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alcohol, tobacco and firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency

Really. After having both? Cool!
I remember your animals. I think I remember someone else had them in NJ some years back?
It was nice to meet you and Billy at the Daytona 08 show.

>>Really. After having both? Cool!
>>I remember your animals. I think I remember someone else had them in NJ some years back?
>>It was nice to meet you and Billy at the Daytona 08 show.

if you're talking about ruthveni, tom agosta in nj, also bob fengya.

yep. i enjoyed alot of different animals but the best overall were the black pines.
the one in the pic came from brian barczyk as a hatchling in '98 or '99. as an adult he was well over 6' and solid thick. he loooooooooooooooooooooooooooved his rats on feeding day.
if i was keeping just one thing, it would be a black pine.

pleasure meeting you as well. lots of good memories from daytona.

daveb
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alcohol, tobacco and firearms should be a convenience store, not a government agency

That's an impressive animal Dave.
I remember you once posted if you could only keep one animal it would be Black Pines. I can appreciate that.

Forgot to add I have also kept black milks (VPI stock). They were the easiest snakes I ever kept and super easy to breed. Just put a pair together and let them go. Did not even need to brumate. My only reservation with gaigae is that they are still, well, milksnakes. Not as spastic as some milks, but still milksnakes.

Yes, they still can do the milksnake twitch occasionally but mine remind me more of the slow deliberate movements of a Rainbow Boa.

The shine on that thing is awesome!
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Genesis 1:1