Northern+Pine+Snake

toc //Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus // Order: Squamata =**__Husbandry Information__**=

Diet Requirements

 * In the wild, northern pine snakes eat mammals, from rodents to rabbits, and also birds.
 * In captivity, they are fed mice or rats.

Notes on Enrichment & Training


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Potential Messaging


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Range and Habitat
Northern pine snakes live throughout the eastern United States in dry pine-oak forests growing on infertile, sandy soils.

Physical Description
The background coloration is a dull white to yellowish or light gray color. There are black blotches down the length of the body that may fade to brown near the tail. The snout is slightly pointed. This heavy-bodied snake could reach lengths of 4 to 8 feet.

Life Cycle
Breeding occurs in April or May. 4 to 16 eggs are laid in underground nests that are excavated in open sandy areas. Females have a tendency to reuse nest sites year after year. Average lifespan is about 20 years.

Behavior
Northern pine snakes are known for their noisy hiss: they violently expel air past a flap of skin in the glottis to produce a very loud hiss. Secretive and fossorial, they rarely climb vegetation. Pine snakes are the only snakes known to dig hibernacula and summer dens.

Threats and Conservation Status
The secretive nature of this snake has led to some degree of uncertainty about its overall status in the northeastern United States. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection lists the northern pine snake as a threatened species based on the isolation of the New Jersey population, the vulnerability of this species to illegal collecting, and the loss of habitat to development pressures. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service previously had listed this species as a candidate (C2) for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The C2 classification denotes taxa "for which the information now in possession of the Service indicates that proposing to list the species as threatened or endangered is possibly appropriate, but for which conclusive data are not available to support proposed rules at this point." Collection for the pet trade and habitat loss were cited as possible factors in local population declines that may warrant listing by the Service. Northern pine snakes are possibly extirpated from West Virginia and Maryland.

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 * The Philadelphia Zoo