Reptile & Amphibian Forums

resting on my shoulders. He's a five year old named "Bugeye" that a friend of mine gave me as a hatchling. My friend bred a lot of texas rats back then, and did not want to bring this little bugeyed hatchling to the Ohio Show ("only worth pennies" with the bugeye defect, he said), so he gave it to me.
Yes, he was nippy as a hatchling. The only really feisty snake out of my 15, so far. Drew blood a few times, but only a couple of drops.
Most of you who actually own texas rats know that they can become dog tame, just like our other wonderful North American Ratsnakes. But they still have a reputation for being hard to handle. This one posed with me this morning long enough for my 10 year old son to take some pics, and now he's just chillin' on my shoulders while I type this. It's a cool Ohio winter day, and I think he apprecialtes the body heat. I brumated him for a couple of months this season, mostly to give me a short break from feeding my larger ratsnakes. I only plan to breed a few, and certainly not this one.
Anyway, wanted to share my thoughts on how tame even these here Texans can be with proper handling and care. Enjoy! Duffy

Sweet, they are still some of the most awesome snakes... mine has bitten me once in about 5 years, I was being a little too fast and careless when I put my hand behind her head, I think it scared her.

Would love to see pictures...

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2.0 Snow Corns
1.4 Normal Corns
1.0 Sunglow Corn
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.2 Creamsicle Corns
0.1 Amelanistic Corns
1.1 Anerythristic A Corns
1.1 Amelanistic San Diego Gophers
0.1 Hypo Sonoran Gopher
1.0 Cape Gopher Het. Albino
1.0 Sunglow Sonoran Gopher
1.0 Southern Pine
1.1 Bull Het. Albino/Axanthic
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
0.1 Texas Rat Het. Leucistic
1.1 Everglades Rat Het. Albino
0.1 White Side Everglades Rat
1.0 Yellow Rat
1.1 Grey Rat
1.1 Black Rat (Albino,White Side)
1.0 Albino Striped Cal. King
0.1 Striped Cal. King
0.4 Misc. Cal. King
1.0 Blizzard King
0.2 Cat
0.1 Dog
0.1 Friend
jswanson737@hotmail.com

Can you post pics?

I've been on these forums for 5 years now and never once posted a pic. Sorry! I'm always at least a decade behind the rest of the world in terms of technology. Still refuse to own/carry a cell phone. We have digital cameras now (my wife is an artist, so we needed to at least be able to get her prints on ebay!). My 16 year old will probably wind up walking me thru posting pics eventually...
As far as this snake goes...Seen one bugeye texas rat, seen 'em all, I guess. My friends who don't know that his eyes are considered a "defect" in the herp world think his eyes are pretty cool. And the larger he gets, the less HUGE his eyes seem.
The one snake that I've really wanted to post from time to time is my albino "greenish" rat. Just a shade different from the other amelanistic ratsnakes, IMO. I also recently picked up a natural-colored greenish that is downright GREEN. Almost the color of the bright green fishing lures. Just a yearling right now. She's my wife's new favorite in the collection. Oh well, maybe I'll get to show them to you all some day. Duffy

I also have 2 leucy Texas rats, and live in Ohio. I would agree that they don't deserve the bad attitude reputation. Mine are very alert when you start to get them out, and they will tail rattle some times. But once you get them out, they can be handled just like a corn. As a matter of fact....

Here are some pics I just took to show how nice they can be. This is my male pink-eyed leucy, i.e. albino leucy. I wouldn't let a snake I didn't trust within striking distance of my face at any time. However I trust him to go where ever he wants. Also, I am the one taking the pics so you have to know that I was not handling him with caution. I was more interested in trying to get the pics, and was handling him very nonchalantly.

I'm "kissing" him in the first pic. Like the Snickers commercial I shortly had to do something manly...LOL

Reptile Show? We're lucky to have that show every month.

Leucistics may actually tend to be calmer in general than your common TX rat.
I have tried numerous times, with probably over a dozen animals, and to this day, have only found one to be consistently handleable. She is a rescue from someon'es toilet, and hangs out in my classroom. Kids aren't allowed to handle her, though. She is still very defensive.
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...and I think to myself, "What a wonderful world."

My leucy is the only one of my snakes that I feel I needed to "tame"...But the guy I got him from had a ton of texas rats, leucy, natural and "flame"...And I only recall a few that had an attitude. This guy always dove right into each cage without hesitation, and I think that by the time the snakes knew what was going on they were already being handled. A toilet, eh?