Reptile & Amphibian Forums

and Black Rat snakes the same thing?
I was told they are.
Just wondering.
Thanks

I've kept both. Black pine snakes and black rat snakes are different snakes. They both just happen to be black. The scientific name for the black pine is Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi. The scientific name for the black rat is Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta (= Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus).

Black rat snakes are found from Kansas to the US east coast in the northern two thirds of the USA (roughly). Black pines are found in Alabama and Mississippi. Both are big snakes, but the black rat gets longer, and the black pine is thicker. There are differences in the size of the rostral scale on the nose, the black pine has much more pronounced keels on the scales than the black rat, and there are other details of scalation that differ.

For what its worth, my black pines were more mellow than the black rats.

Close relatives of the black rat snake include the gray rat snake, yellow rat snake, and corn snake. Close relatives of the black pine include the northern pine, bullsnake, and gopher snakes.

Paul Hollander