Just gave that caresheet a quick read-thru & agree with what's been said- gopher snakes are generally excellent pets, active by day, easy to feed, & not too
large to handle. They can be pushy in their enclosures and they are very active hunters (the opposite of ambush-predators like ball pythons)...these are the
snakes you most often see out & about, in yards, crossing roadways & in wide open spaces. Because of this, my adults were always in 4' long (60 gal.) glass
tanks...with screen (welded wire) tops of which all 4 corners were chained (w/ snap bolts & eye bolts installed) to the furniture upon which their tanks sat.
You'd be surprised how determined a bull or gopher snake can be about pushing a lid off...while they don't dig holes from scratch in nature, they do occupy &
enlarge rodent burrows (they go in & consume the entire family by constriction...and trapping those that try to run past & escape by pressing them HARD with
their bodies)...these are magnificent predators & a bit prone to nose rubbing if their needs aren't met. Again, they're the opposite of BPs, they're very active.
You don't need to "heat" their whole cage either....just provide UTH (about 85-88*) at one end, with the rest at room temperature (about 70*), no added
humidity needed unless shedding. Their shed skins are thicker (they have keeled scales), a good indication of the busy life they live in the wild.
Close cousins are pine snakes & "bull" snakes. Hatchlings are large...mine were 16-18".
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