Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm thinking of getting a pair of King Rat Snakes and I'd like info from those that keep these regarding what they need for care, temps, humidity, type of enclosure, feeding.
I am no stranger to large, fast moving snakes as I keep large Cribos, CB and WC and I've always liked these snakes.
What's their average size? Also, any pictures would be greatly appreciated

Thank you

I'v kept them before, Mine were a nightmare to deal with, I got 3 of them as yearlings. They were so jumpey they were basicaly impossible to handle, and went off eating every time I went near the cage, or had to clean it. They are canabalistic and have to be kept separate.
They also have a real nasty smelling musk that I fond real hard to deal with
They grow fast after about 4 years when I got rid of them they were about 8 foot and still growing. I kept mine at the same temps as my corns and kings.
They are great snakes, for hard core herpers only.
Good luck

I've heard of some that are tame, but they're usually the exception rather than the rule. For the most part, a king rat is like a coachwhip on crack, fast, cranky, and hungry.

Kevin

WOW! I heard some stories about these snakes, but I'm glad to hear accounts that are this honest. I think I will stick to the Yellow Tail Cribos!

Thanks to those that responded.

im actually surprised at these responses, i had heard a few bad stories, especially about the 'stinking godess' musk but nothing too horrible. we ended up ordering one at the store i worked at. it was a baby that would snap at us when we first approached but otherwise didnt release an overly horrible musk or really do much more than run away most of the time. it ate well and remained active but didnt end up selling. we ended up getting 3 more, all of which had more or less the same flighty but less than agressive temprament and ate consistently after a few weeks. we kept 3 out on the sales floor and held one back to let it grow and kept it on display as example of the adult coloration. it did grow fast, it was nearly 3 feet when i left later that summer. for the most part it was just shy. it bit me a few times when i took it out for cage cleaning/occassional removal of uneaten food, but never when it was actually in my hands. after a few minutes of gentle handling they all seemed to calm down and were just really cool snakes. that was my experience with them, im still not sure if they were captive bred or wild caught.

What's the deal with these snakes... somewhere I saw they get up to 6 feet, but from reading, it seems they get bigger? Are they really that bad? Mean aggressive snake?
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2.0 Snow Corns
1.2 Normal Corns
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.2 Creamsicle Corns
0.1 Amelanistic Corns
0.1 Anerythristic A Corns
1.1 Amelanistic San Diego Gophers
0.1 Hypo Sonoran Gopher
1.0 Sonoran Gopher
1.0 Cape Gopher Het. Albino
1.0 Sunglow Sonoran Gopher
1.1 Bull Het. Albino/Axanthic
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.1 Everglades Rat Het. Albino
0.1 White Side Everglades Rat
1.0 Albino Striped Cal. King
0.1 Striped Cal. King
0.0.1 Cal. King
1.0 Leopard Gecko
0.1 African Fat Tail Gecko
0.2 Cat
0.1 Dog
0.1 Friend
jswanson737@hotmail.com

I have a pair of young ones(not color changed yet) and my fem ale is flighty, but managable. The male however is flighty and bitey. They are fun to work with if you don't mind bleeding

I've heard eight feet isn't uncommon for these guys, and a while ago, on the ratsnake area of the classifieds, a guy had one for sale that looked like it was over nine. Heh, heh...a guy I know owns a pair of them actually, and he and I were discussing different feeding methods that snakes use, because I keep coachwhips and I always thought their method of catching and killing their food was really interesting, it's different every time, and they've actually shown some unusual intelligence in some of the methods they use. Anyway, the basic description that I got from this guy on how king rats kill their food is that they smash it. Like I said, imagine a coachwhip on crack.

Kevin

never once bit me. I got them as hatchlings. They were het albino. They were very shy and jumpy as babies but not any more prone to musk than any hatchling cal king I have ever owned. In fact I only remember them as being jumpy. They were not inclined to musk. I made a point to handle them often for brief periods as babies. Mine were great feeders but only on frozen thawed rodents and occasional organic chicken(which they never turned down). They were "afraid" of live prey? I will mention they were very shy eaters, never once eating in my view. I was forced to sell them at about 2.5 years due a move. They were about 5.5' at that time and had become pretty used to handling. Always on the move but overall quite tame and very awesome. As adults the coloraton just glowed. Very beautiful.
Just within the last several months I've seen and handled two adults at the Hamburg show. They were both very large and extremely tame. One was in shed, well over 6' and puppy tame. They wanted 300$ for it, which I thought was maybe a bit much.
They have an undservedly bad rep. Get them captive born and they become tame, if not a little wirey. I'm planning on picking some up in the not too distant future.
Hope this gives you another perspecticve.
Don

im starting to wonder if the 4 that i worked with were captive bred, they were deffinitely fast but they never really stood their ground like my coachwhip. ussually just a quick snap and then theyd take off again. maybe they just have somewhat of an undeserved reputation like coach's and racers even though they are certainly capable of some of the horror stories, maybe those behaviors arent as common as we tend to think.

Geez, I thought we were talking about these guys for awhile:

http://members.fortunecity.com/ukp001/naja/colubridae/ptyas_mucosus.htm

I haven't heard of anyone keeping these snakes LOL

I guess they're the nastiest handful you could imagine.
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Thane

Very easy keepers. I keep mine like any other corn or king, but at room temp(which in my herp room is high 70s usually during the day). They eat thawed left in their tubs, and are usually shy feeders. Can't disturb them or move around the tubs at all. Mine dont musk at all, they're just very flighty and will bluff strike alot when being handled.
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Brienne Earnst

DeviantArt Photo Gallery

Keeping mostly Morelia and Elaphe ssp.

Here's a 4 year old male.