Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello!
just sharing some pics of my gray rats that I thought some here would enjoy. The one is a huge six and a half foot male! The female is still growing yet, and though old enough and big enough to breed. I fear the male as HUGE as he is would hurt her! Maybe next year...

Nice photos and great looking snakes. Are they WC or CB? Are they related? I keep Grays myself, and I just think they are Great looking animals.

Photos of my Grays

I'm a little confused. Having lived in the heart of Gray Rat country for 57 years, I feel I've acquainted myself more than a little with them. I've seen or caught hundreds of them. The youngster in Elaphefan's photo looks normal but the previous adults just don't match what I'm accustomed to. Not nearly enough gray. Again, I'm going from a lifetime of living with them in north Florida. Around here, what you see in a baby is what you'll see in an adult.
Cheerios,
Dan.

Ok, so now that I know that, I'd like to pick your mind for a few things! First off, my pair were sold to me by two different breeders calling them White Oak phase Gray Rats. Is the name White Oak merely a light variant and NOT a mutation in itself? That the name White Oak was thrown on to just make them more marketable? Does this lighter color show up all across their range or just a certain area?

Thank you for putting up with a newbie. I only have ONE pair of gray rats and that's all I'm going on in comparison to you! And thank you ahead of time for any information given, much appreciated!

White Oak Snake is another common name for a Gray Rat Snake. I think that most of the folks on this forum would take the term to mean a hypo colored natural Gray Rat morph. The ones in the first post are a borwn and tan phase morph. If I remember correctly, Steve C. has a very light gray morph that he got from D.G. that most of us would also think of as a White Oak Snake.

This is a case where a common name has been adopted for hypo colored Gray Rats. It is my understanding that in some areas, American Rat Snakes are called Cow Suckers and in other areas they are know as Chicken Snakes. Most of us just use the most common name in use for these snakes, in this case, Gray Rats, because it is easier to remember, pronounce and spell than the scientific name that still seems to be a moving target.

Gray Rat, White Oak, Gulf Hammock, they are all wonderfull looking American Rats IMHO.

In this neck of the woods, as far back as I can remember (back to around 1958; everything's blank before then!) "White Oaks" & "Gray Rats" were the same. Now, with all the specialty breeding, people go crazy with specialty names. Far as I'm concerned, they'll always be the same critter. The name "White" Oak hasn't a thing to do with their color. It comes from the "White Oak" trees they so commonly inhabit around here.
Names can be so silly. We have a little mammal around here called a pocket gopher. Their burrows are very common along sandy roadsides. Years ago, the locals referred to them as "sandy mounders." That got corrupted to "salamanders." So, nowadays, many rural folk call these gophers as such, salamanders.
Anywho, White Oak = Gray Rat, pure & simple. If you want to split hairs, well, be my guest.

Thanks for the input! Yes I had read somewhere that White Oak was merely a fancy add on to make gray rats more salable on price lists.

Hey, Dan,
You reminded me of a subdivision neighbor in central Florida who had about 15 feet of low shrubs bordering her driveway suddenly and mysteriously die overnight.
They looked fine on the surface.
The ground was not visibly disturbed in any way. They just died.
.
When a plant nursery guy told her that a “gopher” had killed the shrubs, she responded, “Wow, I’m surprised that a turtle could do all that damage!”
.
Note to folks who live outside peninsular Florida:
A “Gopher” can refer to the mammal, Pocket Gopher,
Or,
A “Gopher” can refer to the “Gopher Tortoise”.
Most urban and suburban folks become aware of the tortoise, but, I was shocked to find that many folks in central Florida don’t know that the mammal exists! The lady above didn't beleive me at first that the mammal existed.
-----
Regards, Bill McGighan

Funny thing, Bill. Have you ever actually SEEN a pocket gopher?? I have to admit I haven't!!

LOL …Good Point...
I thought they were mythical until I watched a hawk in Lompoc, CA, pluck one out of the ground and drop it!!!!!
-----
Regards, Bill McGighan

Umm, they ARE mythical. Anyone tries to figure out the entrance hole soon discovers how small the human mind is.

both are from captive bred animals, and they are unrelated, from different breeders.

That 2nd photo sure looks like a Gulf Hammock ratsnake.

It is a Gulf Hammock. I realy like natural morphs like that.

Gulf hammock sounds good. This is one that I had a couple of years back which looks very similar to the one in the image.

Very close inspection of the scales showed some pink colouring which certainly points to some other influence over pure greys.

...here's a young male I picked up at a show.