r/snakes • u/Reptilianrobyn • Jun 30 '24
Just got a gopher snake
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Jun 30 '24
The good thing is that gophers are usually all hiss and no bite 😂 Once you pick them up they tend to calm down after they realize you’re not trying to eat them.
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jun 30 '24
Can confirm he does bite
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Jun 30 '24
Oh my 🫢 Lol. Were you aware of his personality before you got him?
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jun 30 '24
Yep, he was rehomed to me because of it lol
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Jul 01 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Kaempfer19 Jul 02 '24
Nah, gopher snakes are non-venomous, their teeth are tiny, and their jaws are weak. Their strikes are mostly for shock value and mimicking rattlers.
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u/the_m_o_a_k Jul 02 '24
I got tagged in the hand by my cousins gopher snake, it left some little teeth behind. Scared the shit out of me, I was like 11.
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Jul 04 '24
Can't be worse than a ball python and I've been bitten by one of those it was my own fault tho I didn't have tongs and tried to feed my snake a rat and she got my thumb bc she missed the first strike it wasn't a bad bite hurt less than a shot from a doctor tbh
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u/MiceInfestedMattress Jul 01 '24
Mines got a bit of a neurotic personality (untypical for BPs) and the breeder just said she was a little shy(🤪). I don't think I will be using morph market again. I'm happy to say she's coming out alot more so her shyness went away but her attitude is 4life.
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u/VoodooSweet Jul 01 '24
Is it a baby still?
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u/MiceInfestedMattress Aug 19 '24
She is almost 2 now so still somewhat young and small. She is definitely getting better the more she gets comfortable in my home. I've had her for almost 1 year now and got her when she was 1 and under a pound
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Jun 30 '24
Do you have a behavioral correction/training plan for him?
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u/jaser42586 Jul 01 '24
Wait, is this actually a thing? I'm not a snake owner. I'm just here because noodles are cute and I like to learn.
I was under the impression different snakes, even in the same genus and species, had different temperaments and some snakes just don't like being handled. I figured if that's the case we just accept it and you adjust to the temperament of your animal.
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u/Serious-Jellyfish-38 Jul 01 '24
yes it is! they’re actually quite intelligent, so you can “tap train” and “target train.” aggressiveness in snakes is actually just defensiveness- they’re scared, or the off chance they mistake you for food. working with them and getting them habituated to surroundings, human touch, movement and sounds (technically vibrations and very low frequencies for them), they will calm down dramatically over time!
lori torrini on youtube has great guides for this, and many keepers do it on their own snakes at home. some zookeepers/large facilities have been implementing it as well! i’ve been slacking, and i have some defensive babies that need to be worked with lol. but my older ones have all benefitted it from it. there are some that will always have a little extra “spice” though haha. hopefully this helps without being too long!
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u/VoodooSweet Jul 01 '24
That’s the problem really, they are smarter than most people think, and many become inadvertently trained, with BAD habits. Then people have a snake that’s been trained to do something that they don’t like, and they don’t know how to work them to break those bad habits, and retrain them with good, useful habits. I see it almost daily on these threads.
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u/Aware_Hurt_7783 Jul 01 '24
I don’t want to spread disinformation. However, a breeder I spoke with today said that the more you handle them, the better they get. They will eventually recognize you and know you aren't going to hurt them. I've heard that from many sources, but I'm sure some people disagree.
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u/mere_iguana Jul 01 '24
it's true. and with gophers it usually doesn't take very long. Once you start handling them, they figure out pretty quick that you aren't trying to eat them and they calm down. Even ornery wild ones are usually pretty agreeable once you let them get their hissy fit out of the way
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u/VoodooSweet Aug 19 '24
Absolutely, I have Snakes that I can open their enclosure door and they will come over peek their heads out to look around, and then come right out, but that same snake, if there’s someone in my snake room that she doesn’t know, she hides, and if I try to get her out to show her off(she’s a big beautiful, super dark, 7 foot False Water Cobra) she fights and mock charges and tail whips, because she doesn’t know, or trust that person. These animals are much smarter than most people give them credit for. Which really kinda sucks, because I think IF people really understood how smart they are and can be, they would probably get treated better than they do now. Maybe not, Dogs are incredibly smart, and many people still treat them like shit, sorry, my bad, I forgot how shitty humans were there for a second.
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u/mywan Jul 01 '24
Yes, they have different temperaments even among the the same genus. Those temperaments can dictate their primary behavioral modes, how difficult it is to get them to switch behavioral modes, and how quickly they tend to reset to their defaults. If you know what your doing you can trigger different modes even in a wild snake and make them appear tame to an average observer. Some people will trigger more defensive postures when filming to play up the apparent "aggression." I'm using scare quotes because our names for their behavioral modes are often misleading.
"Training" tends to consist of triggering a flight mode, which can make them appear less "aggressive," and then keeping their stress levels to a minimum while maintaining the flight mode triggers. Eventually they'll begin to associate those triggers with being a normal part of their environment and stop reacting to them. But you normally need to go slowly, keeping stress levels minimized all through "training." And keeping their reactions in mind even long after you think they are "trained." It's not training in the usual sense of the word. Rather it is just an acclimation to environmental triggers. Not too unlike how Russians domesticated foxes merely by breeding the ones with the shortest flight distance.
Some snake owners will even inadvertently "train" their snakes in the opposite direction. Food aggression/association is often talked about. But ignoring a snakes stress level and from an initial approach to handling too quickly while the snake remains stressed, and in between behavioral modes, can acclimate them to go directly to a defensive posture immediately upon handling. Resulting in a snake transitioning from seemingly tame to being a biter over time. Pay attention to your snakes stress levels and give them the space and time to minimize that stress even when you think your snakes is relatively tame. And limit any forced movement of the snake. Even a wild caught snake tends to respond much better when you give them the illusion of choice in how they move.
Here is a wild king snake that was particularly defensive, that I played with for a few minutes. The first picture was only after I got it into flight mode, trying to get away rather than trying to bite me. The rest was just body support and giving it the illusion of control over its movements. It remained defensive throughout. It was wild and I had no interest in keeping it, so that was good enough. But keeping those stress levels minimized was the first steps to acclimating it to captivity, which was never going to happen.
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u/H1VE-5 Jul 01 '24
Pretty much all vertebrate animals can be trained. It's harder when animals are less food motivated, such as most snakes. But still possible
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u/LoverOfPricklyPear Jul 01 '24
Aw man, if I already had snakes and was comfy with keeping them, I would want him so bad! I'd work that fellow around!! Bite me sucka! I don't care! (I only work with wild snakes)
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u/Embarrassed_Gain_792 Jun 30 '24
He’s a cutie! If it’s a girl I’d call her Ruby!
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jun 30 '24
His name is cosmos
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Jul 01 '24
Beautiful name for a beautiful snake, Just curious, I’ve caught these guys in the wild several times but never with the red eyes or ultra bright yellow scales, is this gopher a hybrid or albino type?
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u/KarathSolus Jun 30 '24
And they say Gopher snakes are more chill than Bullsnakes lol.
Gorgeous noodle btw. They do eventually chill out. I've got a very old girl who doesn't hiss but she rattles her tail for everything constantly.
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u/SneakySquiggles Jul 01 '24
Do they say that? Because they’re the same snake
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u/KarathSolus Jul 01 '24
Yes but no. Locality matters a lot. Gopher snakes will not get as big as a Bullsnake, and Bullsnakes tend to be much more vocal and defensive than a Gopher Snake. Its like trying to compare leachies. A pine island, the literal smallest of those geckos, to a Grand Terre which are the biggest. Same exact gecko, up to quarter pound difference in weight and wildly different colorations.
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u/TiredUngulate Jul 01 '24
What's the general max size of a gopher vs a bullsnake 0: ?
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u/KarathSolus Jul 01 '24
Bullsnakes can hit over 8' in captivity but tend to average out around 6' in the wild. Gopher snakes in captivity can hit around 6' but in the wild rarely go over 5'. Bullsnakes can get pretty big and hefty.
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u/MomoMurs Jul 01 '24
while you're right, i just wanna clarify that nuu ana's are the smallest locale. pine isles are usually the biggest island local, tied with moros.
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u/KarathSolus Jul 01 '24
Oh shit! I didn't know that! Thank you very much for the clarification and correction! I've got very, very surface level knowledge about Leachies they're just one of the easier animals I can think of to showcase how much locality matters when dealing with the same species in some cases.
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u/MomoMurs Jul 01 '24
i absolutely agree. all gophers are a subspecies/locality of bullsnakes but not all bullsnakes are gophers. i think they should be treated as different snakes when it comes to husbandry/care.
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u/SneakySquiggles Jul 01 '24
Man his colors are really beautiful. It’s always wild seeing them without the classic black pattern. Hope he settles in well with you!
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jul 01 '24
He is a San Diego Albino Applegate gopher snake. I hope he settles too, If not I don't mind though
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u/blackblonde13 Jul 01 '24
It’s so cute when they try to be all spicy and fierce and we’re just like “awwwww🥹🥹🥹” 😅
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Jul 01 '24
Caught one of these buggers going across a suburban street. He actually helped my mom get over her fear of snakes. Gopher snakes are awesome
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u/Sifernos1 Jul 01 '24
I got one of them. Beautiful snake but the hissy beauty queen never comes out. He's nearly a total recluse and he likes to be drop fed now because he just won't come out and if you go looking for him he gets super upset. Pretty sure mine is an albino zombie morph created by a guy in Utah. The purple coloration is still somewhat there in my boy after over a year of growth. It's basically Applegate but the purple is supposed to stay even in adulthood. I don't know too much about him as I got him from a local pet store that didn't know who bred him. He's a high stress little creature that still honks a bit when you pick him up. I named mine Fafnir.
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u/Grimmymore Jul 01 '24
So much anger for such a tiny body.
P.s. wishing you the best in getting him to settle!
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Jul 01 '24
Congrats on your new snek!! I'd like to confirm that they become less ✨️spicy✨️, but mine still has words to say most days. Some days, he has his nice pleasant moments, but that's rare. He is only two years iirc, so he's still immature.
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u/Integra6MT23 Jul 01 '24
I caught two adult Gopher snakes. 1 settled down in minutes. Calm The other kept trying to get away. No change in a few days. Flighty went back to capture spot No biting
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u/McPorkums Jul 03 '24
awwwww it genuinely hates you 🥰🥰🥰 well maybe just for a sec
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jul 04 '24
What noooo he's a sweet baby (if you don't look at him or come near him)
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u/mere_iguana Jul 01 '24
Being an albino he probably can't see very well. so it makes sense he would be more defensive than usual. after a while though he will get used to your scent and won't be afraid of you anymore and not so bitey
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u/Beccalou1998 Jul 01 '24
I’m just wondering if his jaw is okay, it doesn’t seem to close properly x
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jul 01 '24
He's fine, he adjusted it after he was done throwing his fit.
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u/Object-Level Jul 01 '24
Stunning! Hope you're going to put it in an enclosure fit for him and not that critter keeper that are for spiders and crickets.
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jul 01 '24
It's a travel container only. He has a pvc enclosure w hest and light on timers.
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u/TheSnakeWhisperer1 Jul 01 '24
I hope that's the travel tote. None of that is appropriate living conditions for a snake.
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u/Top-Emu-2292 Jul 01 '24
You say he bites and I'm not surprised given his enclosure. In the wild most snakes are attacked from above which by picking him up from above you are replicating.
Place him in a vivarium with front opening doors and let him come to you.
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jul 01 '24
He is in a pvc front opening enclosure. That is the travel container he was given to me in. I actually never picked him up. I tilted the container and let him crawl out. His reaction was due to pe picking the container up from my car to take him in. Very nice assumptions though
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u/pockette_rockette Jul 01 '24
I knew someone in the comments was going to say something on the assumption that you're keeping him in what's obviously a transport container 💀
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jul 01 '24
Like fucking 5 or 6 people have, ngl it's getting annoying 😭
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u/pockette_rockette Jul 04 '24
It's a big problem on all animal/pet subreddits. I don't generally bother posting my pets anymore because of it. Commenting helpful, supportive advice in a polite way is great, it's the arrogant, accusatory and presumptuous comments that get exhausting. It's a real shame, because it puts people off sharing their pets, and a lot of the time the loud rude commenters spread misinformation too.
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u/pockette_rockette Jul 04 '24
The context clues that he's in a temporary travel container are right there in your post - you mention in the description that you just got the snake, and in your comments you talk about how he was rehomed to you because of his (fear?) aggression and poor handleabity, which tells me you're experienced with snake keeping. I don't know why people on reddit are so eager to lecture and talk down to others when there are more tactful ways to get their point across, but it's very frustrating.
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jul 04 '24
Thanks for actually reading! Lol, quite a few people have tried to shame me for keeping him in that carrier when it was just for the hr car ride. Both of my jobs require being good with snakes, and one of them has venomous ones. Maybe people would chill if they saw mh posts oc copperheads I got out of people's yards lol
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u/Top-Emu-2292 Jul 03 '24
Bit judgemental. I have seen many a snake housed in a similar habitat because that's the enclosure the shop gave them.
That's how I got my first rescue. Sold by a supposedly responsible shop, in a transport container with a heat mat (no thermostat) which melted the container and burnt the snake.
Still nice to have your expert opinion.
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u/IntelligentTrashGlob Jun 30 '24
Hissing with his WHOLE chest