Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, he ate the first mouse on Friday, but I'm still resisting temptation and am leaving him alone so that he will get acclimated and hopefully eat again when I offer him tomorrow.

I got this pic when I noticed him exploring yesterday, it's through scratched up plastic so it's not the best, but what do you all think? Is it a black rat? In a couple of weeks, assuming he continues to feed, I will start to work on his attitude and do a real photo shoot.

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Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 3.2 (?, Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
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Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)
Mississippi Map Turtles 0.0.6
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Western Painted Turtle 0.0.1 (Picaso)
Columbian Red-Tailed Boa 1.0 (James Jr.)

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It's hard to tell for sure with the photo being a bit fuzzy but it looks like a baby black racer to me.

Looks like pointier nose, blacker eyes and pattern...i'd say racer 80% sure.

John

It's pattern doesn't look like a black rat. The saddle marks are to pointy and not rounded on the bottom. Plus like they said, the head shape looks off.

Can't view your photo at this time, but here is link to a site with a good picture of a juvenile Black Racer. Take a look at the scales and body shape of your snake. Racers have smooth scales; Black Rat Snakes have keeled scales like your Corn Snake. Also look at the shape of the body. Rat Snakes have that loaf shape to them at Racers don't have.

Both Rats, Racers, are common to S.E. Va. If you have a Racer, it may be a little harder to tame, but I think it can be done.
Northern Black Racer Coluber constrictor constrict

I saw the picture. That is a Black Racer. They become this nice shiney black with white or yellow under their chin. That snake is a wonderful find. Since it hunts by day, it will be a great animal to have in your classroom. Best of luck with your snake.

BTW, besides mice, they will eat frogs, lizards, and other snakes. In case you didn't know that and wanted to put a real Black Rat Snake in with him.

After looking at some black racer pics, I completely agree. It's rather amazing to me though having taught here for 5 years and only seen rat snakes and green tree snakes. I suppose that some of the skins that I found could be racer, but the black adults I've seen were definitely rat, there's no mistaking those scales on an adult. Anyway, thanks everyone for the input and now my reptile geekiness is going to have me hunting to try to catch a shot of an adult around here, they've got to be somewhere right?
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Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 3.2 (?, Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
LOTSO BABIES!
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)
Mississippi Map Turtles 0.0.6
(Modelo, Tecate, Corona, Sol, XX, Bohemia)
Western Painted Turtle 0.0.1 (Picaso)
Columbian Red-Tailed Boa 1.0 (James Jr.)

www.geocities.com/wink0083

>>After looking at some black racer pics, I completely agree. It's rather amazing to me though having taught here for 5 years and only seen rat snakes and green tree snakes. I suppose that some of the skins that I found could be racer, but the black adults I've seen were definitely rat, there's no mistaking those scales on an adult. Anyway, thanks everyone for the input and now my reptile geekiness is going to have me hunting to try to catch a shot of an adult around here, they've got to be somewhere right?
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>>Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
>>Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
>>Corn Snakes 3.2 (?, Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
>>Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
>> LOTSO BABIES!
>>Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
>>Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)
>>Mississippi Map Turtles 0.0.6
>>(Modelo, Tecate, Corona, Sol, XX, Bohemia)
>>Western Painted Turtle 0.0.1 (Picaso)
>>Columbian Red-Tailed Boa 1.0 (James Jr.)
>>
>>
>>
>>www.geocities.com/wink0083

That`s a lot of attitude you are going to have to deal with. Here in WV. our black racers will bite and continue to bite if you attempt to pick one up. At least you got one young. It should be an interestng project. Please let us know how it goes.
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Like I said; I`m Gonna Getcha Good!

As I had said in an earlier post, this is the second baby that I found. A few weeks ago I found one and boy did he have some serious attitude! He would flip out and try to bite through his box non-stop for about 3 minutes if you had the patience to wait for him to stop. I let him go after refusing to eat a couple of times.

This one is about 2000 times better already. I can walk up to the box and he looks and flicks his tounge but doesn't try to bite. I can even reach in to fill his water and he just sits there and looks. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that he stays that way when I start to try to handle him.
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Ball Pythons 1.1 (Morty & Mary)
Amazon Tree Boas 1.1 (Orville & Aeme)
Corn Snakes 3.2 (?, Bob, Sandy, Candy, and Tye)
Leopard Geckos 1.2 (Leo, Spaz, and Spot)
LOTSO BABIES!
Central Painted Turtle 1.0 (Swim)
Red-Eared Slider 0.0.1 (Harold)
Mississippi Map Turtles 0.0.6
(Modelo, Tecate, Corona, Sol, XX, Bohemia)
Western Painted Turtle 0.0.1 (Picaso)
Columbian Red-Tailed Boa 1.0 (James Jr.)

www.geocities.com/wink0083

You've got a good Black Racer! Getting them to eat and calm down is more than half the challenge. They make handsome adults, with a satiny sheen to their skin, rather than the glossy enamel look of Black Rats.

Seeing an adult in the wild is easy - for about 10 seconds! Getting a pic of an adult in the wild is tricky. They are alert, see well, very fast, and elusive. They definitely don't cotton to people. Often, the only thing I see is a thin black tail tip disappearing into the brush.

Your best bet is to hunt on cool days when they are holed-up under boards, tin, and such. They do like to bite, but they aren't as vicious some other large colubrids.

It would be very cool for you to have both the Black Racer and a Black Rat so you could educate on the differences and similarities.

Regards,

John D.
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I am so not lesdysxic!

0.1 Creamsicle Cornsake "Yolanda"
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake "Steely Dan"
0.1 Desert Kingsnake "FATTY"
0.1 Black Rat (WV Rescue) "Roberta"