First, you are correct Bulls are netorious for going off feed regardless of how warm you keep them and simply doing a standard chilled burmation is probally the easiest thing to do with them.Originally Posted by MechWarrior
Second, I am not trying to be a jerk here but loose the attitude. Yes Chris is a well known and respected author and I own several of his books. Yet just because any author says anything does not make it "true", what it means is it has been true for him or her in their climate and with the lines they have worked with.
Chris is in the UK which has a very defined photo period which will lead to more of a need for animals like bulls to burmate. By the way snakes DO NOT hibernate they burmate.
Not all bull snakes are the same either. This is a species that ranges from northern Mexico to southern Canada to make any blanket statement about the habits of such a species is not possible. Do you really think a Crumbly or Ginter Red Bull (those are well known bull snake breeders) from Central Texas will behave the same as say a line native to central Kansas?
I do not know what you are trying to prove but you posted a quite arguementive follow up to your OWN POST. What are you trying to prove here? The first person that would tell you that you simply can't apply absolutes to a species as diverse as a bull snake is Chris himself. I also don't know what you think a DVM is going to do to "keep it awake". I have seen specificly wild caught bulls kept warm, stay awake and still fast for 80-120 days.
Carl Kauffeld who was a well known author long before Chris, I and deffinitely you were born noted the same observations in "The Keeper and the Kept" and he also noted in "Snakes and Snake Hunting" that bulls from southern regions were less prone to this.
So do I sound like a "know-it-all" if so I am sorry but this response is to your attitude. I would suggest if you want to get along try to have some level of humility here. These are good people in this forum and God knows I have had my share of disagreements and debates but when you insult someone before they even speak, when you show the attitude you have in response to yourself, well that is probably not the best way to win friends and make yourself heard.
I would also point out that MANY of the people here have decades of working with snakes and other herps behind them as well. Consider this please and feel free to present your view and opinions but again you don't need to bring an attitude with you.
If you think I am to harsh take a second and go read your own post as though it was someone else who wrote it.
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