rat snake questions

LISA127 · 07-28-12, 10:44 AM

I've been looking at getting a corn snake lately, but there are the various rat snakes as options as well. I've never kept a rat snake, but there are a few that catch my eye. Are rat snakes in general very feisty, or are there any that are relatively tame like the corns are? Are there any you feel would make good pets?

snake man12 · 07-28-12, 10:48 AM

Considering corns are a kind of rat snakes they are very manageable. I had a wild caught black rat last summer that I got dewormed so he could go inside with my other snake friends and he was very tolerant of handling I would still have him but a friend of mine really wanted a a snake so I let him adopt it. He had a very nice feeding response. Some variety of red rat snakes look similar to corns but have more dark red and burgundy that normal corns. Hope that helped

Jlassiter · 07-28-12, 02:30 PM

A red rat snake is a corn snake......
And ALL corn snakes are rat snakes.....
My favorite rat snakes in the U S are the green ratsnake, Baird's ratsnake and the transpecos ratsnake.......

LISA127 · 07-29-12, 08:19 AM

I'm aware that corns are rat snakes of course. I'm asking about others. Can you tell me why those three are your favorites? I ask because the latter two are a couple I've been considering.

Jlassiter · 07-29-12, 02:27 PM

Lisa...the first part of my post was not a reply to you......
But.....the second part was......

I list those three as my favorites because.....
Not every newb has them.....like corns....
Interesting localities.....West Texas is a great place for many herps and herpers...so is Arizona (green rats)....
They don't have tons of morphs but the subocs have a few.....

DragonsEye · 07-30-12, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snake man12

Considering corns are a kind of rat snakes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jlassiter

A red rat snake is a corn snake......
And ALL corn snakes are rat snakes.....
.......

Really? My understanding, from what I have read, is that they are closely related species.

StudentoReptile · 07-30-12, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragonsEye

Really? My understanding, from what I have read, is that they are closely related species.

They have always been a separate species from the other American "rat" snakes, but they have always shared the same genus as other ratsnakes; first Elaphe, and then Pantherophis. (technically, their original taxon was Coluber guttatus) Since the genus more or less represents American rat snakes, corn snakes have always been considered part of the rat snake group. They were more often called red rat snakes earlier in history, but the corn snake moniker just gained more popularity and stuck, especially in captive circles.

Some people call them red rat snakes, chicken snakes, corn snakes, copperhead rat snakes, etc. They will always be Pantherophis guttatus guttatus.

StudentoReptile · 07-30-12, 03:57 PM

My favorite is the black rat snake.

Tekpc007 · 07-30-12, 04:13 PM

i had a black rat snakes i caught in my youth about 5 foot , he did bite and it hurt ! but i only kept him for a few days , they do not sit still really , very fast movers so not that great to handle.

Jlassiter · 07-30-12, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StudentoReptile

They have always been a separate species from the other American "rat" snakes, but they have always shared the same genus as other ratsnakes; first Elaphe, and then Pantherophis. (technically, their original taxon was Coluber guttatus) Since the genus more or less represents American rat snakes, corn snakes have always been considered part of the rat snake group. They were more often called red rat snakes earlier in history, but the corn snake moniker just gained more popularity and stuck, especially in captive circles.

Some people call them red rat snakes, chicken snakes, corn snakes, copperhead rat snakes, etc. They will always be Pantherophis guttatus guttatus.

Nice reply...
Obsoletus are the rat snakes as well as Bogertophis and Senticolis......

Emoryi, meahllmorum, slowinskii and intermontanus are all corn snakes in my book as well.......but only slowinskii has been coined guttata.....

Jlassiter · 07-30-12, 06:42 PM

More the reason to learn and use scientific names rather than just common or colloquial names....

A chicken snake is 4 different species and 6 different subspecies depending on your geographical location.......lol

Then there's the ever famous hoop snake.....hahahahahaha

Norm66 · 07-30-12, 07:05 PM

Well, I've learned something in this thread. Thanks!

tucker · 11-09-12, 05:17 PM

I have a Baird's and a Trans Pecos, and both are very manageable. I have to trick the Trans into thinking he's found a nest of hoppers to get him to eat, but the Baird's has not problem with feeding.