My little bull is here

[akane]

and burrowed into the substrate right away lol He looked so tiny coiled in his little cup starting to go into strike position. Then I started to scoop him out and needed 2 hands. I can't wait until he has bulk to go with his length.

http://i1321.photobucket.com/albums/u548/takakageri/snake/Koujin/DSCN3987_zpsyylv9khk.jpg (http://s1321.photobucket.com/user/takakageri/media/snake/Koujin/DSCN3987_zpsyylv9khk.jpg.html)

http://i1321.photobucket.com/albums/u548/takakageri/snake/Koujin/20161025_121606_1477415967826_zpsllsrh6oy.jpg (http://s1321.photobucket.com/user/takakageri/media/snake/Koujin/20161025_121606_1477415967826_zpsllsrh6oy.jpg.html )

[Minkness]

Oooooo! Congrats!!! So many puts showing up around here! Nice addition! =D

[Andy_G]

Nice little bull, congrats!

[EL Ziggy]

Very nice bull snake Akane. Welcome to the Pit Crew. If he's anything like my two bulls he won't stay little for long. My female was hatched in Sep. 2013 and was about 15 inches long and 42g when I got her in Jan. 2014. She recently turned 3 and is well over 2500g and close to 8ft now. My 2.5 yr old male is about 6ft and roughly 2kg. Here's something to look forward to.

then:
http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t674/EL-Ziggy/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0262-1_zpshndp3itp.jpg (http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/EL-Ziggy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0262-1_zpshndp3itp.jpg.html)
now:
http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t674/EL-Ziggy/Mobile%20Uploads/20160427_195224-1_zpsd4wkxvhv.jpg (http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/EL-Ziggy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160427_195224-1_zpsd4wkxvhv.jpg.html)

then:
http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t674/EL-Ziggy/Mobile%20Uploads/20140808_223308_zpsxmej3mfs.jpg (http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/EL-Ziggy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140808_223308_zpsxmej3mfs.jpg.html)

now:
http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t674/EL-Ziggy/Mobile%20Uploads/20161010_202241-1_zpsn7giexqe.jpg (http://s1319.photobucket.com/user/EL-Ziggy/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20161010_202241-1_zpsn7giexqe.jpg.html)

[Minkness]

She-Ra, resident Pit Celeb! She is what got me into pits! 2 now and 1 more in my future! Always wonderfull to see her Ziggy!

[SWDK]

Congrats on the new bull. They're a very cool snake. I'm happy I added a bull to my collection.

[akane]

I've seen big wild bull snakes. I've had to move around 4-6' ones when they were in the way. I saw an 8' snake but at the time I was too young to know what it was. Could have been a rat snake instead.

[Humble308]

Don't worry, he'll grow pretty quick! Welcome to the pit crew :D

[Humble308]

EZ it's nice to see that Apollo ended up full white. He's got such a grumpy face compared to She-ra haha.

[toddnbecka]

Don't be afraid to feed him and he'll grow like a weed in a garden, lol. I thought carpet pythons grew fast until I picked up a baby fire bull at a show early last spring. He's over 3' now, and a f/t rat pup doesn't even make a visible bulge.

[jossh27]

I didn't realize the thickness/girth of pits... They're much heavier than kings it looks line by zigs pics

[EL Ziggy]

I didn't realize the thickness/girth of pits... They're much heavier than kings it looks line by zigs pics

No doubt about that Jossh. My bulls are much larger than my kings. My male king is 4 y/o and he's 550g. My female MBK is 3.5 y/o and weighs 885g. They're both about 4.5 ft long. My male bull turned 2 in July. He's 6ft and about 2000g. My female bull turned 3 in September. She's right at 8ft and at least 2500g.

[akane]

I think bulls earn their name lol They are heavy suckers. Try moving a wild 6 footer that's been eating well... Luckily they are a lot more talk than action. Not that I haven't been nailed as a kid for messing with them and they leave good puncture marks but part of the appeal is that a snake used to handling will still get all defensive and in strike position only to sit there while you pick them up.

[akane]

Now I remember why I came here. Sorry, I just woke up after the new puppy would not sleep last night. My heat lamp is registering 91F at the top of the highest rock, mid to high 80s around it, but it rapidly goes down to low 70s as you move away from the lamp. I am doing bioactive with very thick substrate so UTH is not really possible and the concept is to set up basking rock to make it work more like it does in the wild where hot areas are in the sun and cool areas are the deeper and damper you get in substrate. I'm wondering if this is just plain too hot though and need a smaller bulb or if I need to rearrange so it spreads across more of the tank reducing the temp gradient some? He's hiding under a log at the coolest end for now. It may be less of an issue when I get the 90 up since the height will increase and the lamp will be farther up. Which I could try just raising the lamp on a frame. I might go 7-14" up (that's the size of wire panels I build structures with) over what is supposed to be the warmer, drier end and see what happens.

[SWDK]

I don't think you have anything to worry about with the hottest point being 91 degrees. It's so hot that it's going to burn or harm the snake. It will thermoregulate as needed and do what it needs to do.

[akane]

I did bake one of my earthworms though lol

[EL Ziggy]

IMO Bulls don't really need high temps. I use UTHs on all my colubrid enclosures. My bulls have a hot spot of about 84-86F max and they mostly use it when they're digesting. Other than that they're usually on their cool sides which is about 75F and cooler during the winter.

[akane]

I was reading more like 85F on the high end for a bull. That is why I question the top of my rock stack getting 90.

[Humble308]

I keep my gophers at 75 ambient and hot spot of 85-87 and they're doing fine. Like EZ all my of snakes only seem to use the hot side after eating, often times only with a portion of their body on the spot.

I wouldn't worry about 90 as they'll just move away from it if they don't need it.

[Andy_G]

If the hot spot is entirely too hot sometimes it won't be used at all, but if there is a gradient even on the hot side then you'll be fine. They'll tolerate a wide range of temps but any lower than 68 for ambient or any hotter than about 86-88 and you'll have issues with nose rub and inconsistent feeding.