On the contrary to Will's experience, I have yet to get bitten by a bull *knock wood*.
This after dealing with cranky wild and captive bulls. They were all adults though, so it may have to do with age thing. I have found bulls to look like they're hell on wheels but when you pick em up, they kinda look at your hand and keep hissing as if the hissing would blow my hand away. lol! IME, bulls almost always retain the hissy behaviour but stop striking upon regular handling. Some may even quit hissing (I haven't heard a hiss from my red female for over a year now) and just stick to tail rattling. That's what endears me to them though. Their 'tude! Don't be put off but rather enjoy them for what they are, showoffs! If you want a snake which has no reaction , doesn't do a thing while in your hands, get a bp or a corn!
I do have to note that your basking temps seem a lil high for what sounds like a young bull. Unless you're power feeding, you may experience slower growth or loss of weight even with those temps. IME, I find bulls to have a high metabolic rate compared to, say kings. I have experimented with temps and have found that a basking area of 87-89F is sufficient for adult bulls ( 5ft+). This is based on a 8 day feeding regime. Experiment with the temps and see what gives you the best results. I don't know how warm a younger bull should be as I've never owned any.
Oh, and welcome to the world of pits!
He struck once on moving day (chalk it up to stress) although he missed, so no bites yet. He was going for the face, so we're being pretty careful with him now. We get a lot of tail rattling and a bit of hissing during handling. Sometimes he calms down during handling, and sometimes he seems to get more agitated. Might be the time of day.
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