Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Which Ratsnakes would you say are more likely to be arboreal. I have a cage I'm building that's 3 ft tall, 4 ft long, and two feet wide. I'm planning on having plenty of climbing branches and shelves in the setup and I'd like a snake that wouldn't mind hanging out in the open in a basking spot.

Thanks in advance,
Stuntman Mike

I have a small tree in my Texas rat snake's cage and he spends probably 25% of his time perched in the branches, basking under the light. They are of course notorious climbers in the wild, often found on tops of fences, in rain gutters, entwined in trellises, and of cuorse up in trees, especially in the spring to raid birds' nests. I would think the black ad Texas rats are more eager to climb than, say, yellow or gray rat snakes, since their habitat is more woody.

My yellow, black, everglades and Texas rats are allways up in the trees. They are quite arboreal. I do not think you can go wrong with any. You can even go communal with large enclosures. I do and never have had problems. I just feed seperate. I also do not keep everglades and Texas together. I just keep snakes that overlap in nature together. With the same habatat.

How big do the Everglades RS get? Do you thank my cage size is big enough to keep one happy? It's 4ft long, 3ft tall, 2 ft wide.

Thanks,
Stuntman Mike

That's plenty big for a pair of Everglades.

I house my obsoletas in pairs in 28x28x24 visions and large ones in 36x24x21 visions. I also mount some cork bark tubes high up for them to stuff into. They seem to love small tight hides. You can mount PVC tubes if you like with stainless steel bolts and nuts (Use the stove bolts that are smooth and round on the head, and the nut outside the cage).When I work in the snake room, I slide open some of the doors, and let them come out for a romp around the room. Some do not like to come out. Others like my Fox snakes love to come out. They even come near me when I am dooing work in the room. They are real curious. Yes I once forgot to close the door once on one of the cages over night. (Not something I am proud of) My room is 110% escape proof. In the mourning I found my rat snake coiled up next to his tank just chillin.