THough I am new to rat snakes thought i would put in my own limited observations. As some of you already know I recently received a very nice Texan Leucistic rat snake. Only had him for a little over 3 weeks and so far haven't been bit by him. Though I am careful when handling him (most times it has only been to move him from his cage to a holding container so I can clean his cage) he is nervious with the contact. So far he hasn't gone into a defensive strike position (ie much like the picture above) though he really swings around his head whenever I touch any part of the body. To make sure I do have some protection if he does bite, I decided to wear light leather gloves. He doesn't seem to mind the contact with these as he does my hands.



I figure after a few more weeks of minor handling and interaction he will be calm enough that I can hold with my bare hands for a short period of time. His previous owner was able to hold him though he did indicate he will bite once he has had enough of being handled.



The reason I tell you all this is he is 4 years old give or take a few months so I am thinking those who have around 2 year old snakes start to freak out, maybe it's a stage they are entering. It seems most snakes of this size tend to reach full sexual maturity around 2-3 years of age, perhaps this is the reason for the sudden behaviour change in your rat snakes. Its just a theory of mine, I certainly don't have the experience or knowledge to back it but something that came to mind that may explain the reversal of behaviour in your rat snakes.
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PHLdyPayne

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