bull snake questions

[rwg]

Hello all,

I have a sub-adult bull snake, and he has a bit of attitude. :) He struck once on moving day (chalk it up to stress) although he missed, so no bites yet. He was going for the face, so we're being pretty careful with him now. We get a lot of tail rattling and a bit of hissing during handling. Sometimes he calms down during handling, and sometimes he seems to get more agitated. Might be the time of day.

Do most individuals calm down with handling? Should I leave him alone when he's cranky, or is that re-inforcing his defensive behavior? How bad is a bite from a half-grown bull? He's probably 3-3.5 feet right now with the girth of a medium mouse.

Oh, here's my setup...let me know if I've messed up anything: he's in an 18" X 36" glass wire top aquarium. He'll stay there until he hits 4.5 feet, then on to something bigger. UTH at night, and lamp during the day. 80-70 gradient at night. Ambient 85-75 gradient during the day with a basking spot around 92. Aspen on the floor, hides at both ends and water in the middle.

Roy G

[operation_sssss]

Hey roy,
Had my Bull snake for a couple of months. Mine has a real bad attitude but as soon as you get hold of him and he gets a few bites in he soon realises its not worth the hassle and calms down. Mine is only 20inchs so the bite is pretty much painless (once you get over the shock :) ) Gradually he has got better with handling once every 2 days (not after feeding). I could put my snakes temperament down due to his age, however they do have a bit of a bad rep for being aggressive. In my opinion i would get hold of yours whenever you can and give it around 5-10 mins of gentle handling. Sorry for a longish post, hope all goes well kind reguards cheers Will
P.S your set up sounds good

[Vanan]

On the contrary to Will's experience, I have yet to get bitten by a bull *knock wood*. :D This after dealing with cranky wild and captive bulls. They were all adults though, so it may have to do with age thing. I have found bulls to look like they're hell on wheels but when you pick em up, they kinda look at your hand and keep hissing as if the hissing would blow my hand away. lol! IME, bulls almost always retain the hissy behaviour but stop striking upon regular handling. Some may even quit hissing (I haven't heard a hiss from my red female for over a year now) and just stick to tail rattling. That's what endears me to them though. Their 'tude! Don't be put off but rather enjoy them for what they are, showoffs! If you want a snake which has no reaction , doesn't do a thing while in your hands, get a bp or a corn! :D

I do have to note that your basking temps seem a lil high for what sounds like a young bull. Unless you're power feeding, you may experience slower growth or loss of weight even with those temps. IME, I find bulls to have a high metabolic rate compared to, say kings. I have experimented with temps and have found that a basking area of 87-89F is sufficient for adult bulls ( 5ft+). This is based on a 8 day feeding regime. Experiment with the temps and see what gives you the best results. I don't know how warm a younger bull should be as I've never owned any.

Oh, and welcome to the world of pits! :D

[Ontario_herper]

In most cases pits should calm down with regular handling.

I've got roughly 15 pituophis (bulls, pines, and gophers) all with varying degrees of "friendliness". I have a couple that I use frequently with educational programs involving children and some that are hells on wheels. This is one thing that I really enjoy about pits. Some are very nice some are not so nice.

If you hadle your snake say once a week and make the encounter as stess-free as possible (move slow and be gentle) the snake should calm right down within a few months. You really don't want to handle your snake too much as they get no enjoyment out of the pet-fest. They would much rather be left alone to hide or just do what snakes do when humans aren't around.

Good luck!

[operation_sssss]

Aaawww, must be my Bull's way of telling me i smell like a dirty old mouse lol

[Dom]

I have two bulls .. crazy agressive as babies and over time they got better.. now the never hisss or rattle their tails.. regular handling in non stressfull environementwill tame em' down over a period of tim

Best of luck