Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Some guy dropped this texas rat off at the local pet shop. The shop owner knew that no one would by a 6'6" Texas Rat, so I offered to take it off his hands to relocate. I held it, and surprisingly it never bit, struck, rattled its tail or musked me. His temperament is not characteristic of a texas rat. He's a bit squirmy but not aggressive at all.

hopefully the image works this time

That's a nice looking snake, and especially impressive for it to be tame.

I also just took in a tame Texas rat snake, which I thought was an oxymoron, although it looks more like a greenish to me (I might have to do another guess-the-intergrade post). I guess even if it is a greenish it's still remarkable for it to be tame.

Billy

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Phillyherping

For either one, as long as they have been handled regularly.

that's just it. This snake has NOT been handled regularly. It was wild caught one day, and in my home 8 days later. It had only been held once by the guy who captured it and twice by the pet shop guy before I got it.

Looks exactly like mine, rescued from a nighbor's back yard two-plus years ago. He's close to 5 feet now, feeds well, but is NOT tame . . . standard Texas rat demeanor, nipping, musking, tail vibrating. He has figured out that when I open the cage there may be food, so he defers all action until he checks for tongs. Still, a fun and impressive snake to have -- for cuddling I can use the corn snake.

Texas rats can be tamed, just like most species, if you handle them from a young age - and handle them without fear. I have a tame pair of young adults (2004 hatch) which are as tame as the average corn as far as handling, except that their feeding response is stronger than that, and the female goes a little crazy at feeding time, and will bite anything moving when the smell of mouse is in the air. Of course, temperament can vary from one individual to another in all species, and I have an adult captive bred female corn snake which is the most nervous, biting snake in my collection.

-Toby Brock

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The Ratsnake Foundation

Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Unless it is a wild-caught snake and you are pretty sure you know where it came from originally, the only place you should relocate it to would be your snake collection. Sounds like a good find to me.