Best Ways to Care for & Feed Your Pet Gopher Snake

Learn all about feeding and caring for your pet Gopher Snake.

Gopher snakes don’t need an elaborate place to live. The main consideration is probably to make sure that the enclosure can be securely attached. If you do not secure it, the snake can grow if it is high enough to exit. All he needs is an opening in which his head can pass and they are gone. This snake is a good escape artist so make sure you don’t have to search the house as all family members may not like snakes as much as you do.

If you take your snake out often to handle it or let it exercise, you can keep it in an enclosure as small as 10 gallons. If you keep him locked up most of the time, you’ll need at least a 20-gallon tank or enclosure to keep him happy. There have been reports of a gopher snake reaching up to 8 feet long, so make sure you have an enclosure large enough for the future. The length of the enclosure should be at least two-thirds of the length of the snake to give them room to stretch.

pet gopher snake

Substrate requirements

Gopher snakes do not need special substrates. As long as it can bring warmth and comfort to the snake, it is good to go there. However, there are important things to note in their substrate requirements. Chips like aspen are a good substrate, but do not use cedar as this could cause breathing problems. The potting soil is good because it is easy to clean after them. Sand or gravel is not recommended as it is not a good absorbent. Their use will only promote the growth of bacteria. Shredded paper is fine as long as there is no ink on it. A product called Repti-turf is very good as well as indoor / outdoor rugs and Astro-Turf.

Good temperature for a Gopher snake

Like most snakes, your pet snake must have the right heating in its enclosure. A good way to do this is to use a heating pad under half of the enclosure. That way they will have a warm place and a cooler place. The hot zone should be kept between seventy-five and eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit. It is a necessity because it is necessary to digest their food. At night the temperature can drop, so the temperature should be regulated.

Feed the Gopher Snake

Gopher snakes are very easy to feed because they eat frozen and thawed mice or rats and they only need to be fed about every 10 days. The good thing about this is that you can keep a good amount of food in your freezer. Although in the wild, these snakes feed on living creatures do not feed them in captivity. They could sometimes light the snake and bite it and cause injury.

Water is a must for Gopher snakes

Your pet gopher snake needs fresh, clean water at all times. The container should be large enough to allow it to enter its body as they sometimes like to bathe. Snakes often defecate in their water, in which case it should be immediately cleaned and disinfected.

Handle your animal snake

When handling your snake, you must be gentle but at the same time adamant. A baby gopher snake can be picked up with one hand, but an adult snake must be picked up with both hands. They will not wrap around your arm like a python but will try to take off. To control it, gently turn your head in the desired direction

At some point, by having a pet gopher snake, you will likely become biting. There are 2 types of snakebites associated with your pet. The strike is one where they are not satisfied with you. They do not hold. Although it hurts, the bite is not toxic and should only be disinfected. The other type is the food bite and is a little more serious. The reason is that he is trying to eat the part of you in which he has his teeth.

The more you try to move away, the longer it holds. A little grain alcohol (without rubbing) in his mouth will make him drop almost immediately. Listerine will also work. Make sure you don’t put it in his nose. Bites are rare, so don’t let that deter you from getting a gopher snake for a pet.

The Gopher snake as a pet

While corn snakes and ball pythons are probably more popular as pets, you should consider a gopher snake. They probably have the best overall temperament of this type of snake. They are very similar to the grass snake in their housing and feeding needs. They are easy to feed because they eat frozen mice and need to be fed only about every 10 days. They don’t mind being manipulated and will only bite when provoked or hungry. Even foreigners will be able to manage a trained pet snake. Before figuring out what type of snake to get as a pet, read the Gopher Snake and you might just decide that it’s the pet snake for you.