Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just picked up a pair of 08 brazoz island rats and was wondering if anyone had any pics of theirs. Do they look any different than the mainland meahlomorums? Mine just look like typical meahli's to me, with big bug eyes and large set off heads. Tbrock you can probalby give me some good info. Thanks. I will try and post some pics, but my PC is down right now.
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Matt Kauffman

>>I just picked up a pair of 08 brazoz island rats and was wondering if anyone had any pics of theirs. Do they look any different than the mainland meahlomorums? Mine just look like typical meahli's to me, with big bug eyes and large set off heads. Tbrock you can probalby give me some good info. Thanks. I will try and post some pics, but my PC is down right now.
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>>Matt Kauffman

Looking forward to seeing photos, Matt! Not sure I have any good pics of BI rats, and the pair I was keeping, went home to their owner's house a while back. That pair had some interesting coloration and markings, but I have seen somewhat similar in some other localities as well. They tend to have 'H' or 'X' shaped blotches, it seems, which is one of their most interesting traits IMHO. Terry Cox can tell you more, since he is the owner of the pair I was keeping.

Speaking of meahllmorum... There are a couple posts below, from myself and Todd Hughes. Todd is the owner of a LTC male reverse-striped animal from Nueces County. We bred him to a CBB reverse-striped female, whose parents came from Duval County. She is owned by Terry Cox. I also bred Todd's male to one of my big Nueces County girls, who laid a nice clutch of fourteen. Todd is currently attempting to breed the r-s male to another Nueces female. He also just got a nice clutch from a pair of '04 CBB Nueces meahllies (see below).

ps. The reverse-striped female just laid a very large egg! More to come...

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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

>>>>I just picked up a pair of 08 brazoz island rats and was wondering if anyone had any pics of theirs. Do they look any different than the mainland meahlomorums? Mine just look like typical meahli's to me, with big bug eyes and large set off heads. Tbrock you can probalby give me some good info. Thanks. I will try and post some pics, but my PC is down right now.
>>>>-----
>>>>Matt Kauffman
>>
>>Looking forward to seeing photos, Matt! Not sure I have any good pics of BI rats, and the pair I was keeping, went home to their owner's house a while back. That pair had some interesting coloration and markings, but I have seen somewhat similar in some other localities as well. They tend to have 'H' or 'X' shaped blotches, it seems, which is one of their most interesting traits IMHO. Terry Cox can tell you more, since he is the owner of the pair I was keeping.
>>
>>Speaking of meahllmorum... There are a couple posts below, from myself and Todd Hughes. Todd is the owner of a LTC male reverse-striped animal from Nueces County. We bred him to a CBB reverse-striped female, whose parents came from Duval County. She is owned by Terry Cox. I also bred Todd's male to one of my big Nueces County girls, who laid a nice clutch of fourteen. Todd is currently attempting to breed the r-s male to another Nueces female. He also just got a nice clutch from a pair of '04 CBB Nueces meahllies (see below).
>>
>>ps. The reverse-striped female just laid a very large egg! More to come...
>>
>>
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>>-Toby Brock
>>Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Hi, Matt.

I just have one pair of B. I. rats, which are long term captives. This is the female, which is currently gravid...

They are often dark colored, as are many of the coastal forms, but individuals can be very nicely colored. What I think is even more appealing is the shape, size, and behaviors of the Brazos Is. rats.

Brazos Is. rats also have a tendency to have clean ventrums...

Other small features can help distinguish this form, but it isn't much different from the snakes from Nueces Co. (Toby's) or the Brownsville area. I think they tend to be prettier; but the best things are their form and behavior.

P. g. meahllmorum has a huge range from the San Antonio area south through the lowlands of northeastern Mexico, and from the Gulf Coast west to the Balcones Escarpment. With that much territory there's a lot of variation in the subspecies.. color/pattern, behaviors, etc. The Brazos Island rat is my favorite locality of the race, but I'm still working on the comparisons.

Hope this helps a little...

Terry
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Conserving reptiles by helping to protect habitat...
www.ratsnakehaven.com
www.scenicsantaritas.org

Thanks Terry,
That does help. My pair do have very clean ventrums like the one you have pictured. They also love to squeaze into tight crevases even if they are side-ways or upside down(like the one pictured). Mine have very clean patterns and the female has the H-shaped blotches on about the first third of her body. They also have very large, orange eyes, with large pupils. I will post some pics as soon as I get my PC running again. They are very interesting and I love their behavior. I'm also about to get a pair of colorado local emoryi from KJ Lodrigue. It will be interesting to compare the two locals. Thanks again.
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Matt Kauffman

>>Thanks Terry,
>> That does help. My pair do have very clean ventrums like the one you have pictured. They also love to squeaze into tight crevases even if they are side-ways or upside down(like the one pictured). Mine have very clean patterns and the female has the H-shaped blotches on about the first third of her body. They also have very large, orange eyes, with large pupils. I will post some pics as soon as I get my PC running again. They are very interesting and I love their behavior. I'm also about to get a pair of colorado local emoryi from KJ Lodrigue. It will be interesting to compare the two locals. Thanks again.
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>>Matt Kauffman

Matt, you're right, they do like to squeeze into very tight quarters. I use a small water jug, less than half a gallon, I believe, and they like that a lot. They seem to like to hang out in the water a lot. But they also use the one gallon jugs and when adults, like my 4 foot plus ones, they can fill the containers.

Another thing about Brazos Island ratsnakes is that they can come from the mainland too. ASAMOF, Brazos Island isn't separate from the mainland, but rather connected. How they do seem to get separated is by the isolation of their very sandy, dune habitat. "Brazos Island" is more of a locality form which sometimes is very nice and other times looks like a typical meahllmorum. There is no taxonomic difference. I think we try to find the nicest ones from the most isolated habitat and refer to these as "Brazos Island." Like I said previously, they tend to have some interesting behaviors and can have nice color/patterns.

I love this snake, and it's my favorite Emory's rat...