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He just finished shedding a few days ago and I measured him right before he went into shed. He is right at 54" and 28 months old. He has already surpassed my '00 corn by 6". Not quite the girth of the corn, but Im betting by next fall he will be lots bigger!! He hasnt darkened up alot either.
Thanks for looking!
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
Very impressive animal. Congrats. Do you keep him in an arboreal setup so he can climb? I am into locality-specific black rats but prefer NC/SC critters, the ones that are jet black. Is your guy WC? If so, from what county in KY? Did you have to de-worm him and so on so forth? I have a nice black one from York County, SC, that I just started on Panacur. A fecal float showed strongyles eggs, and I think that's why he was so skinny (only about 600 grams). He took down a medium rat last night, so I'm hoping he'll start putting on the weight. Just too skinny right now to brumate. Thanks for posting.
Thanks. I keep all my snakes in a rack, so no, he doesnt have anything to climb on.
Yep, he is W/C and from Bullitt county. When he was caught, he hadnt even had his first shed yet, so he was only maybe a couple of days old and had no parasites.
He has alot of light colors to him, so Im thinking he may have heavy gray rat influence. Could be wrong though, as the black snakes here in KY are pretty variable as far as color. He does have a solid grey head though!
I know what you mean about the jet black ones. Im from southeast Missouri, and that is how the black snakes are down there. Jet black and impressive!
Happy Herping
Brian
Very impressive animal. Congrats. Do you keep him in an arboreal setup so he can climb? I am into locality-specific black rats but prefer NC/SC critters, the ones that are jet black. Is your guy WC? If so, from what county in KY? Did you have to de-worm him and so on so forth? I have a nice black one from York County, SC, that I just started on Panacur. A fecal float showed strongyles eggs, and I think that's why he was so skinny (only about 600 grams). He took down a medium rat last night, so I'm hoping he'll start putting on the weight. Just too skinny right now to brumate. Thanks for posting.
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
This is the guy I was referring to in above post.
I really like the jet black ones.Very similar to my Pa. locale male,but at a distance you can see his juvie pattern.
And I have seen some not quite that dark, but close here in KY. I think the darker ones I have seen are almost a dark olive drab color with some hints of black.
But that is a nice big black rat. I bet he has a great personality huh?
Brian
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
Thanks for the pics. He's a nice looking black rat snake. I think at certain angles or brightness you can generally see some pattern in almost all black rat snakes. I love them.
Terry Parks
>>I really like the jet black ones.Very similar to my Pa. locale male,but at a distance you can see his juvie pattern.
>>
I hope my guy can put on weight and look like that in a year or so. I read somewhere that the farther north you go the longer the black rats grow. The article said the biggest obsoleta are in New York. Thanks for sharing.
What a sweet snake..... do u have a full body shot of him?
That should be one impressive Rat Wrecker when it is full grown!!
I know the black rats we used to catch in MO were just like that, and wasnt unusual to find them in the 5-6' range, and thick!!!
Brian
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
Another pic.
>>Another pic.
>>
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
All KY rats that I have seen pics of have a distinct pattern.Is that typical of that locale or do some get pure black?
For the most part the black rats here in KY do retain much color and pattern. However, over in the southwestern portion of KY, black specimens can be found.
The color/pattern retention is thought to be from gray rat influence. I believe this as well, and this, I think, is pretty evident in my snake. As his head is solid gray!
All KY rats that I have seen pics of have a distinct pattern.Is that typical of that locale or do some get pure black?
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
n/p
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."
>>n/p
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>>"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
Its always a pleasure to see everyone elses locale rats!
Brian
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian
Hi Brian - He looks impressive. I won't let my Guthrie, KY female see the pic of him. LOL. She's breedable now. Rat snakes don't usually attain the girth of cornsnakes. So your black rat snake is right where he should be. Have you noticed how many people with black rat snakes usually have the locality? One of the rat snakes where I see people list locality quite a bit. I'll take some new pics of my female when she gets out of brumation.
Terry Parks
>>He just finished shedding a few days ago and I measured him right before he went into shed. He is right at 54" and 28 months old. He has already surpassed my '00 corn by 6". Not quite the girth of the corn, but Im betting by next fall he will be lots bigger!! He hasnt darkened up alot either.
>>Thanks for looking!
>>
>>-----
>>
>>
>> Good luck and Happy Herping
>>Brian
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