# Colubrids > Pituophis >  wild bull snake

## mpkeelee

just a quick question on bull snakes. i am an MP in the army and one of my buddies caught a baby bull snake. he called us and i showed up, put it in a bag and dropped it off in the desert. he wanted to keep it for a pet but wasnt sure. would it have been an ok pet snake or no? are they rear fanged? just curious cuz he was a beautiful snake

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## Jason Bowden

Yes,  bull snakes are popular native pet snakes.
There are some breeders out there that work with them.

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_mpkeelee_ (06-03-2010)

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## ladywhipple02

Bull snakes are a barrel of fun  :Smile:  I kept a baby for awhile when I was rescuing, and he was definitely the craziest little thing I've ever had the pleasure of caring for. He would hiss and wiggle that tail against the side of the cage like a rattler, and try to scare me away every time I reached into her cage. All bluff though... he struck a few times, but always just bumped me with his head. Never bit. 

They can have attitudes, I guess is the morale of the story, but that's really the only "danger" they present, and can be very fun and rewarding to keep.

I'd check on your local wildlife collection laws, though, before catching one and keeping it. In some places, it's illegal to do so with bulls. Getting one from a breeder would be a better bet. Just my two cents.

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_mpkeelee_ (06-03-2010)

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## jbean7916

I "fostered" a baby bull for a few weeks when I was about 16. He was just a little guy that my mom found on a pile of laundry in the basement and boy did he have a temper!! Always striking at the glass and shaking his little tail like he was hot stuff. They are gorgeous snakes though!

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## tonyaltn

> I'd check on your local wildlife collection laws, though, before catching one and keeping it. In some places, it's illegal to do so with bulls. Getting one from a breeder would be a better bet. Just my two cents.


Here in Iowa Bullsnakes, and every other snake is illegal to harvest and keep...our only exception is the Garter Snake.

I used to catch these guys when I was a kid, they sure could make a kid jump...they can be a bit fiesty, lol.

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_mpkeelee_ (06-10-2010)

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## mpkeelee

has a couple more calls for bullsnakes the other night. one about 3 feet long with a nice big bulge in its belly, and one about 2 feet. we released em into the desert. my lieutenant almost brought one home lol

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## mrmertz

Here in AZ we get them by the truckload every year. Okay, maybe not that many, but where my wife and I work we are "in charge" of snake removal and handle about an average of a few dozen a year at times. WDB's too. We simply relocate them (if diamonbacks) or move them a little out of the way if bulls. 

Wild bullsnakes (gopher snakes) tend to be on the mild temperment side. A few though can act just outright ugly! Open-mouthed strikes and all. But for the most part even the wild caught ones can adapt fairly readily to captivity. Like all snakes, each has it's own personality.

The largest snake I have ever seen (either captive or wild) was a bullsnake getting ready to cross state road 77 here one morning on my way to work. He was _easily_ seven feet long. Now keep in mind for a bullsnake to get that big he has been roaming around the desert here for some time as a wild critter. When I spotted him on the shoulder I quickly pulled over and ran back to 'em and he coiled slightly and simply let me pick him up and walk him safely back off the road and into the brush. No biting, hissing or anything.

We love those bulls! We have plenty of pics of them over the years that we have let go. (In AZ you cannot _legally_ transport a species for relocation further than 1 mile from origin).

What's neat is that being a native snake like Elvis the Kingsnake we have, you don't have to mess with all of those humidity levels unlike our pythons and boas.

Hope this helps!
Jeff in Tucson

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## Tim Mead

They are not rear fanged and the pituophis family occurrs all over the U.S in different sub species..Thank you for your service.. :Salute:

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## Tim Mead

Believe its safe to say that that no "constrictor" type snakes are rear fanged.. :Salute:

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## kleb68

> has a couple more calls for bullsnakes the other night. one about 3 feet long with a nice big bulge in its belly, and one about 2 feet. we released em into the desert. my lieutenant almost brought one home lol


Thank you thank you thank you thank you.

I'm so sick and tired of hearing of innocent snakes being beheaded out here in AZ since monsoon season.

Literally 5 friends called me in 2 weeks to inform me of their family or neighbor just found a snake.  "oh great send pics what is it?"      "um we killed it??"

So sick of useless wasted lives. Gettin' tired of humans

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## mpkeelee

i havent seen any critters out lately, maybe people just learned to leave them alone.

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