Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My brother brought this little fellow home for me, and i was wondering what it was. the guy at the pet store told us it was an albino black rat snake, i dont believe him one bit but i could be wrong but i wanted to get a second oppinion.

he is a lively little booger. its hard holding him in your hands because he loves to move!

It is a black and white kingsnake. Great snake just do not put him with other snakes or he will eat them. This pet shop should not be selling reptiles if they do not know what they are selling.

here's an albino black rat

the guy at the pet store needs to be slapped with a rolled up magazine

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The Reticulated Rattler

1.0.0 Great Plains Ratsnake
1.0.0 Corn, Lavender Aztec het for Amel
0.1.0 Black Ratsnake
0.0.1 Texas Rat (tame)
1.0.0 Broad Banded Water Snake, Hypo
1.0.0 Black Bassador Retriever
2.1.0 Godchildren, 1 Evil, 2 possible hets

i love the pic! retic rattler.. that musta been one freaked out rattler, with the what, 12 plus retic? LOL! but most stores do not know what they have unless theyre told, any rare animal they become clueles.. ive been told night lizards were leopard geckos, and the best were the rainbow tailed pythons( red tail boa, ball python and rainbow boa in the same tank, JUST PACK EM IN)

One day about 15 years ago, I went into a Petland Discount near my house. And saw 2 crazy lizards. They were Chinese crocodile lizards. They were only $79.99 Now these lizards go for wellover $1,000. Had I had a crystal ball back then. Another time about 5 years ago I went into another one and saw a sign that said chinese garters. I looked closely and they were Elaphe dione for $14.99

so i have a serious question since im unexpectantly new to the snake world. but did i get a good deal getting a kali king snake at the price of a black rat? or was my brother ripped off? i honestly dont know what the price differences are in these two snakes. regardless i love this animal i fed it its first fuzzy yesterday and it shed its skin today wich was unexpected as well as it showed no signs of being ready to shed.

Well I do not know how much he paid. I have not bought a reptile from a pet shop in over 15 years. Here on kingsnake baby black rats go for about $25 and black and white cal kings for around $40. Medium sized ones go for a little more. But then there is shipping. That allways adds $50 on to any price. I do not like to place dollar amounts on animals because they are living things. I feel living creatures are priceless. I would give a snake with a "market value" of a thousand dollars for free to someone who I know will take care of it the right way and appriciate it for ever. Rather than sell it to someone that would grow tired of it and just want it because it is the latest morph or species that is "the in thing right now". This is my problem with this hobby. In fact I do not consider Herpticulture a hobby. For many of us guys/gals here it is a lifestyle. If you go into reptile keeping with this attitude you will get much more pleasure out of them. Cheers Greg

I agree with you 100% i was just curious as to the dollar amount typically paid for these animals. its always cool when you catch a deal. i now have 3 turtles and 3 snakes in my household and love and care for all of them the best of my abilities.

also on the same page here but if you want reasonable dollar values for each species then check out the classified section up at the top of the page. There is an area for kingsnakes and an area for new world ratsnakes. Generally if you double the prices you find in those classifieds then that is what you can expect to pay at most pet stores. Like greg said, california kings generally sell for more than black ratsnakes but I do not know what an albino would go for. You can find all of this information by checking out a few classified ads for each species.

On shedding: Typically, a snake's eyes turn cloudy for about a week or so, then clear up a few days prior to shedding. The cloudiness is an oil between the old skin & the new. For some reason it becomes transparent late in the process. Most snakes will not eat when the eyes are cloudy, but some will.

~~Greg~~

I agree. It is some "man-made" variety of California king.

~~Greg~~

I knew when i got my first look at this snake it wasnt albino which really made me question what kind of snake it was. i have posted on a few different forums and i think i may have found what i was looking for. i was pointed at this website.

http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/l.g.californiae2.html

looks like the "Scrambled Banded" morph to me.

looks like a king snake to me.