Bulls
Bullsnakes are all classified under the same subspecies- Pituophis Catenifer Sayi. However, bullsnakes have different morphs and combos that make them one of the most diverse Pituophis.
Bullsnakes
As mentioned above, bullsnakes have different morphs! This means that you can get different paint jobs and patterns in bullsnakes. Most all of the bullsnake morphs are recessive genes, which in simple terms means that both sides need to carry the gene in order to pass it on to the next generation. There are also line bred traits which come about from selective breeding and lastly, there are locality animals. There are numerous different localities since these are found in various parts of the Central United States, perhaps my favorite of these localities is the Kankakee, which is found in Kankakee County IL.
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There are 5 "Big" Morphs in bullsnakes- albino, whiteside, patternless, axanthic, and hypo. Those five are all recessive traits and can be combined to make different variations of patterns and colors. There is also a few other morphs- yellow, red, zipper, and tiger. Another thing to be aware of is that there are two strains of axanthic- miami and omaha (aka ballum). These two strains can look very different but both produce some beautiful animals. Hypo also has two strains- stillwater and trumbower.
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Another big question I find myself answering for people is what is red in bullsnakes? Many times you will find ads that are Red Albinos or Red this or that. Red generically is a line bred trait that can get better and better with selective breeding. You will also see commonly, bulls called Kingsville Red. Kingsville Reds are actually a locality animal found in Texas. This locality is where most of the Reds in the industry came from, you will find generic reds that have been crossed with other non locality animals and you will find pure locality Kingsville Reds that have had the line kept pure.
Both generic and locality reds can produce some beautiful looking animals.
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The last thing I will touch on here is their size. Bull snakes can get large, no doubt about it. I personally don't have any that are 7 feet yet but I have heard that it is possible! I believe I even read somewhere of a record of over an 8 foot bull! That would be quite the impressive animal, however, most adult bulls stay around the 6 foot range in my experience although each individual does vary. The females in my room are typically larger than the males, I feed the females more to aid in their reproductive and recovery processes but males can get just as large as females.