Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I'm considering buying a yellow rat snake. I normlly keep ball pythons, but I encountered a beautiful yellow rat in a tree while I was out for a walk. It was enormous! My best guesstimate put it at about six and a half feet. Are they usually arboreal? Do they hold up well in captivity? And how is a yellow different from an everglades rat snake? Are they different species, subspecies or varieties?

Please pardon my ignorance. Thank you in advance.

Just an afterthought, are there any interesting morphs of yellows or everglades that I should consider?

Thanks again.

I just aquired a pair of Yellow rats and Glades rats last weekend. The female yellow may be gravid and she is large but not as big as the one you saw. I am in a rush and off to work but I will post an awnser as to the differences as soon as I can. I will get some pics up of my new snakes soon.

Don Gallagher

I'm no expert, but I'll give answers as best I know, and the others will fill in and correct any misstatements.
>>Are they usually arboreal?
Yep, Yellows and many other ratsnakes spend a lot of time off ground. Most obsoleta subspecies do, as they regularly dine on birds and their eggs.

>>Do they hold up well in captivity?
Yep. Once you get it acclimated to feeding on frozen/thawed rats/mice, they usually don't look back. They are relatively long-lived (20 yrs?) and good feeders and producers.

>>And how is a yellow different from an everglades rat snake? Are they different species, subspecies or varieties?
Lots of controversy here, but generally, the 'glades is considered a redder variety of yellow ratsnake, and there is certainly scientific speculation that all the ratsnakes in the range (East of the Appalachians?), whether black, grey, greenish, yellow, or orange, are all the same subspecies, in different clothing.

P.S. - If your large ratsnake is a female, there's a chance its gravid at this time of year.
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...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

Your basic questions have been covered...as to your PS....I have a friend who has some of Dwight Good's, and I personally like, the whitesided or 'licorice' morphs of the everglades. (and the blacks are to die for)
The biggest ratsnakes I saw were two everglades that were monster at White Plains last year. One of the cool things about rats in my book.
Compared to a BP a ratsnake is almost the direct opposite. Fast, outgoing, 'assertive' (hopefully not aggressive- though my female black is psycho and will bite at random)
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Sonya