>>I was just curious. I bought two snakes at a reptile show. They were from two different companies, but the one stated they got their snakes from the other. The one that both snakes originated from had them labelled as mexican night snakes. The other had the snakes labelled as honduran rat snakes. How can the same type of snake have two different names and be from mexico and be honduran as well?
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They can't be from both countries and be the same subspecies. Schulz '96, stated that the Honduran night snake was the most common in the hobby, and can probably be told apart by the divided preocular and the number of dorsal scales rows on the anterior part of body. Otherwise, these two look a lot alike, and are basically the same snake.
Both names are confusing. Mexican night snake is often a general term for all the subspecies, but they are not often from Mexico. Honduran ratsnake is not good either, because they are confused with the Honduran green ratsnake, Senticolis triaspis; and the subspecies, Pseudelaphe (Elaphe) f. pardalina, is also from Guatamala and Belize. Night snake is not the greatest common name either, as has already been stated. Mexican corn snake is equally a bad common name, as the real Mexican corn snakes, Pantherophis guttatus meahllmorum, range throughout northeastern Mexico.
Probably Mexican night snake or Honduran night snake, depending which ssps it is, would be best, if there isn't any other common name that can be used. This is likely most prevalent in the hobby. I just wish we could come up with a better common name for this very interesting species.
Those are great looking snakes, BTW. I love all the black they have.
TC
