I like all of the rat snake species I am currently keeping, as well as all of the ones I have kept in the past.

My current favorite is the Chinese beauty Snake (Orthirophis taeniurus taeniurus), which is a smaller subspecies of the beauties, and docile as well. They are easy to keep, and breed under the right conditions.

I also like a couple of the smaller Asians (Elaphe dione, Elaphe bimaculata), which are easy to keep, and stay small so are conveniently sized for keeping in smaller cages or tubs.

My current favorite New World species is the Baird's Rat Snake (Patherophis bairdi). This is a very cool species to keep and study imho. Docile attitudes like Corns, but with a feeding response like Texas Rats!

I agree with Todd (antelope) that meahllies (Pantherophis emoryi "meahllmorum") are nearly indestructible, and get bigger than the average emoryi, and have more attitude than the average "Corn".

-Toby Brock



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Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

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