Bottomless Pit

**EL Ziggy** · 02-14-14, 08:52 PM

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. I'm wondering about my new bull snakes appetite. She's 5 months old and I've had her for a month now. I've been feeding her 2-3 hopper mice every 6 days. Its about 15-20% of her body weight. They leave a slight bulge which is gone 3 days later. She seems to have a faster metabolism than my kings and is usually out 'hunting' about 4 days after she eats. I've heard bulls can be pretty ravenous eaters and that they should be fed larger meals than a comparable king snake. She's gained a little bit of weight since I've had her but hasn't shed yet. She downs hoppers pretty easily and quickly. The next step up is a small mouse, which my yearling kings are eating. She's a little smaller than they are and a small mouse looks a little large for her but may not be. My question is should I increase her feeding amount, the frequency of her feedings, or leave things as they are? I appreciate any input.

Terranaut · 02-15-14, 05:12 AM

Pits are eaters. I would up the amount and keep the schedule the same.
Just watch your snake doesn't get fat. Pits should be lean until well into adulthood. Kings are typically a thicker, heavier snake so if your bull gets thicker than your king you might want to back off the food a bit.

**EL Ziggy** · 02-15-14, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terranaut

Pits are eaters. I would up the amount and keep the schedule the same.
Just watch your snake doesn't get fat. Pits should be lean until well into adulthood. Kings are typically a thicker, heavier snake so if your bull gets thicker than your king you might want to back off the food a bit.

Thanks Terranaut, I didn't know pits were typically leaner than kings. I thought pits were the larger bodied snakes. I learn something new every day. Thanks again.

Terranaut · 02-15-14, 09:32 AM

They are at that age. Just a little. I have seen a few on the net that are grossly overweight. A few shots of my gopher.
At about 2 months

At about 2 years

Now at 3ish

kwhitlock · 02-15-14, 10:22 AM

Terranaut, your gopher is a monster lol

**EL Ziggy** · 02-15-14, 12:01 PM

Very nice gopher Terranaut. Is it just the lighting or was there a significant color change?

Terranaut · 02-15-14, 12:46 PM

She is about 5ft and will most likely keep growing a bit more.
Skittles has had a bit of colour change but most of it in the pics is lighting.

sharthun · 02-15-14, 04:45 PM

Beautiful snake! Ever vigilant!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terranaut

They are at that age. Just a little. I have seen a few on the net that are grossly overweight. A few shots of my gopher.
At about 2 months

At about 2 years

Now at 3ish

Terranaut · 02-16-14, 07:42 AM

Lol. My wife is more fearful of small snakes than big ones.
Skittles is great. She has cool colours and patterns but seems to think she is a rattle snake. She will hiss and shake her tail but as soon as you touch her it all stops. She has never struck or anything.
More people should keep pits.

**EL Ziggy** · 02-16-14, 10:46 AM

I have to say I love the pit attitude. My bull snake will hiss, huff, puff and bluff but never strikes at me (anymore). She did try to tag me with a closed mouth the first time I handled her. It was funny because she's so small but I imagine a full grown pit could be a bit intimidating. We're on much better terms now

**EL Ziggy** · 02-17-14, 11:05 AM

A bit of news...My Albino Bull snake shed yesterday which was a pretty big surprise because she never went blue. My Cal King has done this with his last 2 sheds as well. Yesterday was also feeding day and everybody was pretty hungry. I gave them all one small mouse and a hopper each. She-Ra, my bull snake, inhaled the hopper and then took down the weanling pretty easily too. She was still searching for more but I figured that was plenty. She really is a bottomless pit

sharthun · 02-17-14, 11:10 AM

She-Ra will be over 5ft before you know it!

**EL Ziggy** · 02-17-14, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharthun

She-Ra will be over 5ft before you know it!

She is growing fast. She was about 50g when she arrived a month ago and she was 95g before feeding time yesterday.

Terranaut · 02-17-14, 11:35 AM

Albinos go pink or lavenderish and not blue.

**EL Ziggy** · 02-17-14, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terranaut

Albinos go pink or lavenderish and not blue.

It was almost impossible to tell she was going into shed Terranaut. I wouldn't have handled her the few days prior to her shedding if I had known. I'll try to be more aware next time. Thanks for the tip.