Posted by:
ratsnakehaven
at Tue Mar 28 08:03:22 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ratsnakehaven ]
I know a lot of keepers like the thrill of keeping a really big snake, but many pet snake keepers like smaller, easy to keep snakes. I tend to specialize in the smallest of the ratsnakes, and would like to see what others think, and some examples of their "small" snakes.
Here's an example of an adult, male Dione's ratsnake. This South Korean form can get over forty inches which is quite large for an Elaphe dione...
Although E. dione is very easy to keep, the Chinese twin-spotted ratsnake, Elaphe bimaculata, is more problematical. Sometimes they won't take thawed mice and have to be fed live ones. This is one of the smallest of all ratsnakes hardly ever getting more than 36 inches, and usually not even that. Here's a yearling form our golden brown line...
One of my favorites is the leopard snake, Zamenis situla. Different even from other Eurasian ratsnakes, this is a beautiful and intriguing small snake, hardly ever getting over 36 inches. They can also be a little tricky sometimes to care for. Here's my striped male I recently got a pic of...
American ratsnakes tend to be on the larger side compared to Eurasian ratsnakes. Even corn snakes can be quite large, often over four feet when adult. That's one reason I like the western "guttatus". Some of the Great Plains ratsnakes are quite short reaching only about 36 inches. I'm currently trying to breed that smallness into my Pantherophis guttatus lines. I also like the Keys and Miami corns. 
Cheers....TC
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Ratsnake Haven...researching ratsnakes since 1988 
Ratsnake Haven Group...an information providing list site.
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 How about some miniature ratsnakes?? - ratsnakehaven, Tue Mar 28 08:03:22 2006
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