Care Sheet for Bull, Pine, and Gopher SnakesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.15 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 04/30/2006 |
Main Category: | Snakes |
Sub Category: | Bull, Pine, and Gopher Snakes |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | PaulWTAMU |
Years Experience: | 10 to 15 Years |
Species: | Bullsnake |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | This can be applied to both bullsnakes and gopher snakes. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Probing is the only way to tell for sure; males will probe several scale rows deeper than females. If you’re new, don’t try this by yourself. Have someone show you first, and walk you through it. |
Mostly Active During: | Both |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Numerous substrates have been used with success; the most basic would be newspapers or paper towels. I prefer cypress mulch for a basic cage, or a natural substrate that is essentially a mixture of clean topsoil and sand with some cypress mixed in. This allows for planting to make a naturalistic cage, and allows the snake to burrow, something pituophis are all adapted for and love to do. |
Lighting and UVB: | No lighting is required for the snake, but if you do plant the cage, you’ll need a plant-grow bulb. UV is certainly not required. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | I like to give them a wide range of possible temperatures. The warmest area is usually in the mid 90’s, and the coolest is room temperature. In a large cage, that is fairly easy to manage.
Humidity: these are very adaptable animals. Usually, a large water bowl is sufficient for needed humidity. If you need more, try dampening the substrate lightly. This is another area where natural cages work well: a 6 inch deep soil/sand/cypress layer allows them to burrow into a much more moist area, which lets them regulate humidity. |
Heating and Equipment: | I prefer low-wattage ceramic heat emitters or normal light bulbs, with a small regulated under the tank heater being a secondary source. As noted above, for planted tanks, you’ll need a plant grow bulb for the plants. |
Caging Provided: | For babies, a standard 20 long works. I don’t bother making these naturalistic: straight up aspen bedding with some ceramic plant pot bases for hides, small water bowl and a heat pad. That’s it.
However, a large adult bullsnake can be 8 foot in length. Most are 5-6 foot in length. Mine are all in that range, thankfully, and are housed in the 36" by 28" by 18" cages. They are very active snakes. I provide both a means to burrow and some climbing structures; rocks, small branches, etc. are all used. For these large snakes, I recommend a cage probably 2/3 as long as the snake, by about 1/3-1/2 as wide as it is long. For an 8’ bullsnake that would be a 5’ cage. Bigger is better! Make sure that they can regulate both temp and humidity. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | Mice work well for smaller ones, rats for larger ones. Feed once-twice a week as babies, every week or so as adults. They’ll occasionally go off feed during winter; this seems to be a bigger issue with animals from northern populations. Go for a very slight bulge in the snake’s belly every meal. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | Nope. Just whole vertebrae prey. |
Maintenance: | They’re pretty easy to maintain, once set up. Just change the water weekly, and disinfect the bowl. |
Some Words on this Species: | They’re very cool snakes. They tend to be a bit flighty, but not very bitey. They’re not as calm as most corns, but in my experience, calmer than kingsnakes. They don’t sit still in your hands, and prefer to move; they’re not generally fond of handling.
In the field, they seem to be more diurnal but in captivity, they tend to be active whenever. These snakes are great candidates for a large planted vivarium; they display very well, being more active than most corns or kings. A natural tank gives them an opportunity to display many behaviors that the more sterile setups dont’ allow; watching a bullsnake dig itself a burrow is pretty cool. For a 5 foot bullsnake, giving it an 80 gallon glass tank, with about 10" of that substrate mix, lightly planted with succulents or cacti, and furnished with branches and rocks, with a full length plant grow bulb and maybe a ceramic heat emitter results in a great display that won’t be easily equaled. |
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