Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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
-----
Ratsnake Haven...researching ratsnakes since 1988

Ratsnake Haven Group...an information providing list site.

A bimac. Randy

Mandarin.

coxi

situla

Randy, I really like the looks of that bimac..good clean pattern. Is that the mother of the pair I got from you last year?

Here's a Mandarin I produced and one of the Japanese forest rats I used to have. The conspics are smaller than the mandarina, and would qualify as a miniature ratsnake, if they are indeed true ratsnakes...

Love your other ratsnakes too. That leopard rat is nice. How big a group do you have now? Have a great season...

Terry

Where did you get a conspicillata from? Great looking snakes, but I can't seem to find anyone who breeds them.
-----
It's just like the story of the grasshopper and the octopus. All year long the grasshopper stored up acorns for winter, while the octopus mooched off his girlfriend and watched tv. And then the winter came, and the grasshopper died, and the octopus stole all his acorns, and he got a race car. Is any of this sinking in?

>>Where did you get a conspicillata from? Great looking snakes, but I can't seem to find anyone who breeds them.
>>-----

Have you tried Rex Knight? There was a guy on the West Coast that had them too. I don't keep them anymore...sold mine back to Rex. If you need more info, send me a private email.

Thanks. Unfortunatly I still only have a pair of leopards as of now. I wouldn't mind picking up a pair if striped ones like that one you posted a pic of.
That is the mother of your pair of bimacs along with them before hatching actually. Hope their doing well for you.
Nice mandarin hatchling. He has that sichuan province look to him. Here's is a female sichuan province of mine when she was about 2yrs. old.
Hope to see you in Daytona this year. Later, Randy W.

Oh, you should get some more leopards, haha. They are pretty cool and we are getting better at keeping them. Hopefully there'll be some morphs in the hobby one of these yrs. too. There's been amels and melanistics found on Crete.

The bimacs from you are doing well, although still pretty small. The female is turning out pretty nice. I'll try to get a pic one of these days.

Hopefully I'll be able to make Daytona this year, but don't hold your breath. It's a long and expensive trip and right after I get back from 16 days in AZ. I'll try though, and I'd like to drive down with a few snakes to sell off. I'm definitely going to move my taeniura this summer. Take care...

Terry