How big should a 17 month old yellow rat snake be?

poomwah · 02-26-14, 10:50 PM

I saw a lot of information on this site, and a few familiar names, so I figured I'd join.
I recently got a yellow rat snake, and I'm wondering how mad I should be at myself. I'm very disappointed with the snake I received, and I'm wondering if I should have expected more, or if I was unrealistic to expect what I did.
I had a choice between a 2012 or a 2013, obviously the 2012 was a lot more money. I chose her because I feel more comfortable handling slightly larger snakes. The snake I got, born either august or september 2012 (the breeder wasn't sure which), is very small. At least a lot smaller than what I expected.
She weighs 29 grams. This seems incredibly small for a 17 month yellow rat snake. Am I correct in thinking this? Or was I unrealistic in my expectations?

Mikoh4792 · 02-27-14, 07:32 AM

How long is she? my 2012 grey rat was 3 feet or so.

poomwah · 02-27-14, 07:37 AM

19.3 inches and as big around as a pencil

**EL Ziggy** · 02-27-14, 09:22 AM

Hi Poomwah, welcome to the forum. There's a lot of good information here. I'm not too familiar with rat snakes but 29g seems quite small for a 2012 colubrid.

CosmicOwl · 02-27-14, 09:39 AM

That does seem small. However, I think if you feed her regularly she will catch up on whatever growing she hasn't done. Most North American rat snakes have great appetites and will grow like weeds if fed regularly.

Sharlynn93 · 02-27-14, 09:41 AM

my corns (a variety of rat snake from what i know) grew pretty much only in length the first year...virtually minimal weight gain...now they are totally blossoming...could be the same for actual rat snakes?

poomwah · 02-27-14, 10:25 AM

thanks for all the info everyone.
she's 19.3 inches right now.
From what I'm finding on most forums, most people's are quite a bit bigger by that age.
I wish I had known she was going to be that small, I would have saved some money and got a 2013. I paid twice as much for the 2012 because I don't like handling extremely skinny snakes.

poomwah · 02-27-14, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CosmicOwl

That does seem small. However, I think if you feed her regularly she will catch up on whatever growing she hasn't done. Most North American rat snakes have great appetites and will grow like weeds if fed regularly.

Let's hope I can feed her regularly,hehe.
I left her alone for a week after getting here before trying to feed her. She refused her first meal. Let's hope that's a one time thing.

Mikoh4792 · 02-27-14, 10:31 AM

All snakes grow differently anyways. Maybe you just have a small snake.

poomwah · 02-27-14, 10:37 AM

I guess so, very small, it's crazy, I have a white sided black rat that is only 2 months older.
Last time I weighed him was a month ago. So, at the time of his last weighing, he was only a month older than the yellow is now.
Yellow Rat - 17 months old 19.3 inches 29grams
White sided- 18 months old 39.5 inches 244 grams

**EL Ziggy** · 02-27-14, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poomwah

I guess so, very small, it's crazy, I have a white sided black rat that is only 2 months older.
Last time I weighed him was a month ago. So, at the time of his last weighing, he was only a month older than the yellow is now.
Yellow Rat - 17 months old 19.3 inches 29grams
White sided- 18 months old 39.5 inches 244 grams

Is it possible you got the 2013 baby instead of the 2012?

poomwah · 02-27-14, 11:29 AM

I was thinking that same thing. And you aren't the first one to think that was a possibility.
But the breeder assures me that it is a healthy sized 2012 (even though I have a LOT of people on many forums saying its very small for its age).
I did however post in a forum where a lot of people know the breeder, that's the only forum where I'm not being told she's smaller than I should have expected. One person on that forum PM'd me and said "WOw, that is TINY".
However, the people posting are telling me how great the guys' stock is, and how I should be happy with what I got, and that I'm turning out to be the type of customer that does nothing but complain.
Which baffles me, because the ONLY thing I've ever complained about on there is that I was expecting this snake to be a lot bigger.
I have even paid the breeder many compliments on that thread.

Mikoh4792 · 02-27-14, 11:42 AM

I'd say those people are idiots. If you find something to be a bit odd(a very small snake for a being a year old) you should be able to point that out and ask questions. Some people just want to be infallible.

Did you tell the breeder that a lot of people on many forums say it's small for it's age? 29 grams is pretty light.

CosmicOwl · 02-27-14, 11:43 AM

I think you might have gotten a 2013 hatchling or an undersized snake from 2012. My 2013 gray rat snake is already approaching 19-20 inches long, so it doesn't make sense for a 2012 yellow rat snake to be the same length.

poomwah · 02-27-14, 12:11 PM

I told the breeder I was really concerned about the snakes size.
He assured me that it is indeed a 2012. And said:
"You definitely received the right snake. Yellow rat do run a bit small than black rats both in length and girth, but aside from that our snakes our not powerfed. They do well for us on a once a week to every ten day schedule. We seem to grow them up at similar rates that I observe in wild rat snakes in my field work down here"
a BIT ???? lol