Young Bull rubbing her nose constantly on glass

[paulh]

...and while some Pittuophis (spell?) enthusiasts are gathered on this thread:

Can anyone suggest a good care/natural history book on the genus? I can't find anything other than what is apparently an older "description" - sounds like a series of scale counts for each species.

I don't know of a good single book.

The scale counts book sounds like Olive Griffith Stull's paper from back in the 1940s. It can be downloaded as a pdf file from the web. The link is too long for here, but using the Google seach engine and searching for "Bulletin United States National Museum Smithsonian Institution Stull Pituophis " (minus the quote marks) should find it.

Useful books (may be available by interlibrary loan):
Comparative ecology of two Colubrid snakes, Masticophis t. taeniatus and Pituophis melanoleucus deserticola, in northern Utah /​ William S. Parker and William S. Brown. Out of print?

SNAKES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: Keeping Them Healthy in Captivity - Vol. 1: Eastern Area / John V. Rossi & Roxanne Rossi
SNAKES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: Keeping Them Healthy in Captivity - Vol. 2: Western Area / John V. Rossi & Roxanne Rossi
These books are rather expensive.

The Northern Pine Snake (Pituophis melanoleucus): Its Life History, Behavior and Conservation / Joanna Burger and Robert T. Zappalorti. Can be downloaded as a pdf file from the web. Do a Google search for "Joanna Burger Robert T. Zappalorti" (minus the quotes). I haven't read this myself (yet). But some of their research papers have taught me a few things.

Handbook of snakes / Wright and Wright. USA and Canada, 2 volumes, IMO one of the two best snake books printed in the 1950s. (The other was Klauber's The Rattlesnakes.) Out of print (AFAIK).

Not recommended:
Pine snakes: a complete guide / W. P. Mara. I have a copy. IMO, this should be labeled a complete guide not. Somewhat useful if someone can guide the newbie past the mistakes.