Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted in the what am I spot...but no responses yet so I put it in here for more people to see. I really want conformation on this snake. Please help.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1709514,1709514

I answered your question on Snakes, what kind, but for those who don't want to look, it could well be a Yellow Rat, or it could be an Everglades Rat. Yet again, it could be an intergrade. For the most part, a yellow rat should have a black tongue, but I have a Yellow with a red one that doesn't show a bit of Everglades coloring, so who knows. A few years ago all I would have said was it was an Elaphe obsoleta sp. It looks like a nice little Eastern Rat Snake. Give it a year and you will know more about what stock it came from.

In my life I have seen some really nice fire engine red Everglades Ratsnakes, as pure as it gets, well judging on their appearance that is, but they all had black tongues. And let's face it, the validity of the Everglades Ratsnake as a distinct subspecific entity is debatable at best, as it is distinguised from the Yellow Ratsnake on color alone, which is not a reliable criterium on which to determine "purity". Whatever it means.

But I agree with Elaphefan. Give it a year.

If zmilliro had not said that he was told that it was a Yellow Rat Snake pup, I would have guessed that it was a Gray.

The way I look at it is if it eats well, doesn't bite you, and is healthy, thet is is a great pet. But what do I know? I do think it is a nice looking little American Rat Snake.