Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am just getting into North American ratsnakes. I have had many snakes over the years. But now I am looking to focus on our N.A ratsnakes. I have been out of the colubrid scene for quite some time. I had a large collection of Asian tree vipers. My New Years resolution to my wife was to sell the whole collection. Now with all my empty vision cages I am going to do something I allways wanted to do. I have just been looking through the classifides. There are so many morphs. Is there a desire any more for local specific ratsnakes? I personally find them awesome. It seems quite hard to find ratsnakes and corn snakes that are het for nothing. When I was growing up every where I went I looked for snakes: milks, ratsnakes, racers, and even garters and decays. The best part was finding the same species in diffrent areas that looked diffrent. Any way I think my new goal is going to be local specific het for nothing. No offense to anybody morphs are beautiful, just not my cup of tea. With all the development going on some day we may not have local specifc species. Where I live there are no more eastern hognose snakes any more because there are no more fowlers toads. A big part would be landscapers and the chemicals they use, as well as the people who hire them. Sorry for the long post It's just some food for thought.

I think locality animals would be a GREAT endeavor!. And I totally agree that most snakes nowadays are "het" for some mutation(s). Just plain ol' het for nothing snakes are JUST as cool,if not COOLER in my book!. I love knowing with certainty exactly where they are from, and the variation they can have from different locales as well.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Hey,You think like me.I love locality specific critters!Here's a pic of a Va. locale corn.Take care! Jeff

That is one awesome corn snake.

Frankly it's hard to beat a stout five-foot Texas or black rat snake for display, easy feeding, climbing,activity, durability . . . they just make great keeper snakes. As for locality varieties, last summer I picked up, examined and released two black rats a momth apart, but within 100 yards of the same spot. One had the classic Texas rat snake markings and coloration . . . grayish/brownish, very visible, pearly white belly. The other was close to jet black, with minimally visible markings and black checkering on the belly. Both were about 3 feet long, both exhibited the usual rat snake vigilance and defensiveness, but they were different enough in appearance that casual observers would likely consider them two distinct species. Have fun with your project!

Welcome to the FORUM and best of luck on your endeavor, Greg.
Like other forums, contributors here are a nice mix of breeders and hobbyists who appreciate the diversity of Rat Snakes.
A few of us are hobbyists who specialize in natural colors and patterns of species and variants, and inherently locals.
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Email me through KS if you would like recomendations on breeders that carry naturally occurring morphs on a regular basis, and, more importantly, if you can trust their animals' authenticity.
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What part of the country, generally, are you located in?
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Regards, Bill McGighan

I just ordered some cool rat snakes. I ordered 1.1 emory and 0.1 bright yellow rat from Chamelon Counters. The owner Keith was great to work with. He even has a cool web cam set up in his place. He hooked it up so I was able to watch the snakes in their tanks and pick out the ones I wanted. Then he sexed them and fed them for me. It was great that I was able to watch the whole thing on my computer. Technology is amazing. When I was a kid this stuff was only on Star Trek. "Beam me up Scotty"

"It was great that I was able to watch the whole thing on my computer. Technology is amazing. When I was a kid this stuff was only on Star Trek. "Beam me up Scotty""
LOL
These are the "good ol' days", when it comes to technology!!

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Regards, Bill McGighan

Welcome back! Although many are morph based here, many are locality based as well. I only have one corn snake and it is a morph. All my other rats are locality snakes. I am partial to bairdi and subocs, in no particular order! I also have more than a few emoryi/meahlmorrrim rats from around my neck of the scrub!

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Todd Hughes

I wish I had a slew of empty cages waiting to be filled with Rat Snakes! To answer your question, I think the individuals who post on this forum appreciate the natural phases quite a bit. Having said that, the market for North American Rat Snakes isn't particularly good. Overall the colubrid market seems pretty saturated.

American Rats have never had the following of corns, Cal kings, Honduran milks, etc., but that doesn't mean they aren't mighty fine snakes.

Tim

Wild Ohio Black Rat:

Third Eye

The rat snakes here in Kentucky look alot like those Ohio animals Tim. Here is one from Hart County, KY.

Well we've seen one from Ohio and Kentucky now-why not throw in a WV black rat? This guy used to sit like this in our old shed waiting to ambush rodents coming through a hole in the wall.

You're not kidding about that, Dwight.

I've caught one or two in Kentucky that almost looked like Texas rats. I don't know of any other locale where they exhibit so much pattern as adults.

Tim

Yes it is nice having a slew of vision cages; but it is just as nice having the money I got from my treeviper collection to use on new snakes. Something I cant believe is, how many hybrids there are out there now. I personally do not agree with it, but to each is own. Some are very beautiful. Going through the classifieds I never realized how popular and expensive they are. It makes me kind of sad in a way. That is why guys like us are imprtant to the Herp hobby.(These are just my feelings and in no way do I mean to upset anyone).

Here is a south Florida "yellow" rat snake. Old US 27 can be seen in the background, lined with Australian pines.