Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Whoever does...can you please post pics of them? I'm almost out of school and plan on doing some dead serious hunting for them and some pics would get me pumped up lol.
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Scott

Reptiles
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1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
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1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

They run rampid in Fla. They are everywhere ( in Fla that is ). My bud tells me they are quite fast and judging from the speed mine moves in her home you had better be stealth in the field.

Here is a pic

What a beauty!

They're apparently found throughout the entire state of NJ, but I'm wondering why I STILL have yet to find one. Why can't they just be out all the time up here like in Florida? So not fair...
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

My bud said to check around golf courses ( by any ditches ); he said that's where most of his come from when he goes to Fla; perhaps the same may apply to NJ.

Why the heck would you want a Racer? I can't think of a meaner, more ill-tempered snake. (We don't have coachwhips in VA ) Cottonmouths are nicer than Racers. My mother-in-law is nicer than Racers. Yellow-jackets and fire-ants are nicer than Racers. I've never caught one that didn't want me dead.

Have you ever seen a bunch of fire ants cover someone that they even had to take their clothes off to get them off? I have.

Has that ever been the case with racers? I can pretty much guarantee that's a no. And don't say it's happened and refer to AcidFreeze's pics of the blue racers. He caught them. They didn't all crawl over him and bite him and cause him to remove his clothing.

Racers are cool and they do soooooo much more than corn snakes, ball pythons, and green tree pythons. It's about time there was a snake that DIDN'T sit in one spot 24 hrs a day in an enclosure.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

The pics of John holding the group of blues with the blood on the hand is 99% due to fresh wild caught. Any, and all critters when fresh caught will bite, scratch, and run if given a chance. My LTC blue is as tame as a ball ever wanted to be. I'd say to continue your venture of catching the specimen of your choice. You can expect to be bitten by racers upon capture - but the bight really is nothing. A little blood and in 2 dayd you'll never even know you've been bitten. Fast heal. I've NEVER gotten any kind of infection.
Happy hunting.

I agree with the comments on the bites. I've been bitten by about every Racer I've ever caught. It's a little disconcerting, but never as bad as the briar scratches I get chasing them.

Here's a "bad" Racer bite...

2 days later, I can't tell I've been bitten, but I'm still smarting from the briars and thorns. (I wouldn't want to get tagged in the face by a Racer, which is a distinct possibility if you hold one close enough).

I was watching the crocodile hunter the other day and steve irwin was holding a black racer and it got him right above the lip lol.
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Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

"Have you ever seen a bunch of fire ants cover someone that they even had to take their clothes off to get them off? I have.

Has that ever been the case with racers? I can pretty much guarantee that's a no. And don't say it's happened and refer to AcidFreeze's pics of the blue racers. He caught them. They didn't all crawl over him and bite him and cause him to remove his clothing.'

Lighten up. If you couldn't tell my comment was tongue-in-cheek, well, just lighten up.

I did have a point that Racers have attitudes. I've caught lots of them and they are simply the most aggressive wild snakes I've ever encountered. (I know Coachwhips are mean boogers, but we don't have those here.) I've seen a lot of cottonmouths, and they have nothing on racers for aggressiveness. Without exception, every racer I've ever caught thrashed wildly, musked and striked continuously. I like them and they are neat catches, but they don't appeal to me to keep because of their aggressiveness.

....I said in another post...your one of northern black racer photos...that I was just messing around.

You are free to not find racers appealing as pets. I believe it's time there was a snake out there that doesn't make people stare and ask ,"So, does he do anything besides sit there?" They do calm down in captivity, just like water snakes and garter snakes and rainbow boas.
-----
Scott

Reptiles
--------
1 Colombian Rainbow Boa (Rocky)
1.0 Ball Python (Sultan)
0.1 California Kingsnake (Leota)
1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle (Yugi)
0.1 Red/Gold Bearded Dragon* (Irwin, R.I.P.)

Other
-----
1.0 Betta Fish (Tyrone)
1.0 Hooded Rat* (Clubber, R.I.P.)
0.1 Albino Rat (Isis)

I like Racers, and I'm sure people have nice, calm ones as pets. But Racers seem to me to be quite a different in the wild from other snakes. From what I've seen, Racers are roamers - more so that other snakes. They are fast and seem to be constantly on the move. I've never seen one that wasn't lean, with good muscle tone, with clean scales and perfect bellies (unlike Kingsnakes, Rats and others I've found with evidence of scale rot and other skin maladies). In that respect, it seems they would be highly restricted in a captive environment, unlike the others that you mentioned that often time are quite content to just "lay there." Don't get me wrong, if you want to keep one as a pet, I'm all for it - as long as it is treated humanely. They just aren't for me. I love Racers to death, but I'd rather see them in the field than in a cage.

How do you not like a snake with personality? Racers just don't want to be domesticated. They'll never lay on their back for anyone, beg, panter, or relent. They hold their own and retain their dignity and self respect. They are no ones pet and no ones slave. And if you do tame one, that is a test of ones skills as a herper.