Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I keep seeing people sing the praises of E. schrencki the Russian Rat for its docile temperament, great feeding response, etc. I was under the impression that E. anomala was a very similar species and it looks like they're more common in collections. In spite of this apparent popularity (relatively speaking), I never seem to hear anyone talking about them though. I was just curious-is there something about them that makes them less appealing captives than Russians?

I thought my Koreans were actually shrenki also...hmmm....

I have had some normal Koreans....huge and smaller....

I have now a male amel and a female het Korean....they are probably going to be brumated and brd this year...this month ......and they ..well....they...hate me...they are flighty and killer ideas hit them everytime I open the cage...they really hate me......

also they are not cool black and yellow....that's why Russian wins over Koreans......color.....even though the Korean look like false water cobras....cool....

years ago when Russians hit the market they were all over for $40....huge ones.....not bitey or flighty either....
I don't own captive Russian so I don't know how killer they are in attitude.....

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........JY

Elaphe schrenki is quite docile and very qurious (spelling?) They have a great feeding response and might mistake your hand for food

Elaphe anomala is very different. They are high strung and nervous snakes. They either bite you or trying to escape and they are very fast. They use to eat well anyway. I used to just toss in a rat and it would be gone next day.

I like the schrenki more because of their black color and sweet nature.

Jonas

Well it sounds like demeanor explains it all if you've both had nervous/aggressive Korean rats. Thanks.

I have a pair of Koreans that I bred for the first time this year. I actually like the color better than Russians. Mine are bright yellow with shades of brown and grey mixed in. They are very flighty, but have never tried to bite. I haven't seen Russians around much recently.

By the way, taxonomically they used to be subspecies of each other:

Russian ratsnake (Elaphe schrenki schrenki)
Korean ratsnake (Elaphe schrenki anomala)

Now they have been split into separate species:

Russian ratsnake (Elaphe schrenki)
Korean ratsnake (Elaphe anomala)