Reptile & Amphibian Forums

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/for/1972870688.html

Saw this on craigslist. i know nothing about asian rat snakes other than what ive heard 'they get big, they are mean, they are often imported wild caught'. that one is big and if its not good with children its probably not good with adults either. Is that a fair price for one? How did the guy misspell Vietnamese twice LOL!

Vietimease......as bad as Vietmanese

......funny....Not.....

......ask him to say and spell Chihuahua or Albuquerque....

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........JY

On asian rats, I do not believe they are any different in temperment than N. American species. On calling them ill tempered, well consider what gave them thier rep.
Most were wild caught, then they were treated badly, shipped around the world, stress from that and then from that stress the gut load of parasites which in the wild wouldn't normally be a problem becomes a serious heath risk.
Not being fed or given water for a long period will shrink thier appetite as will the stress and foreign envirionment.
It's now a rightfully pissed off and unhappy animal that has a better chance of expiring than surviving.

If an American species was put through that I believe it would be similar in temperment.
I think you'll find that captive bred asian snakes are much better to work with and very similar to anything found here.

I have a 9'+ blue beauty that was supposedly a long term captive. Yeh, right.
I think it was just a long shippment from the east. When I got him he was all of the problems above plus was jammed in a small box marked syringes (WTF?)
He was proptly named Demon as he came out of that box wanting to tear someone a new butt.
I didn't blame him. Today he is still very much his own snake but I can handle him without a problem.
He's less of a handfull than a texas rat I have thats half his size.
Mike.

"How did the guy misspell Vietnamese twice LOL!"

...ignorance, a common condition.
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See all my snakes at SerpenTrack.com

Appears to be what is referred to as a Blue Beauty ratsnake. Related to the taiwan and chinese beauty or striped tail ratsnakes. Probably WC, but hard to tell these days as many captive bred BBs are out there as well. Check out the Old World Ratsnake Classifieds here to shop around on prices. Price will depend on CB or WC, also male or female. Adult breedable or proven females are in general more expensive for all snake species.

Its definitely a blue beauty.
I'd be as quick to hand a blue beauty to a child as fast as I'd hand a kid a texas rat or black racer. They won't take kindly to fast movements or being grabbed.
Mine is that way, its almost as big at 9 1/2'. An experianced adult with a gentle hand can handle them without a problem.

10 1/2' is not a common size to see for sale so I guess it would fetch a higher price. $275 still seems pretty high but if its healthy and he's had it for a good while it may be worth it.
I bought mine for $125 plus $50 for shipping.
Add in the vet bills because it was a wild caught mess filled with lung worms when it arrived and I probably doubled its cost.
With that in consideration it may be worth it but that is top doller. Show up with $200 cash and see if the owner bites.
Mike.