Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted earlier that I was hoping to get a 12 year old Yellow Rat this past Wednesday. I hadn't seen him, not even a picture, so didn't know what to expect. My friend walked in with the snake bag tucked in his coat (it's still cold here). He and his girlfriend had stopped at a fast food place on the way and they brought him in, he ate his dinner with the snake nice and warm in his bag in the coat. He pulled him out and I couldn't believe the color on the snake. I think he's beautiful! His history is that two guys owned him and weren't caring for him properly. My friend rescued him last fall and has been caring for him. The original owners fed him live mice, not often, and rarely cleaned the cage. There were 3 old sheds and lots of snake and mouse droppings in the enclosure when my friend went to pick him up. Now he's eating f/t rats instead of live mice. He has a great temperament. Is very "huggy", likes to wrap himself around your arm. He gets nervous if he isn't wrapped around something. He is striped but still has some of his "baby" splotches down his back for the first foot. Is that normal? He's only 4 feet long due to his lack of food during the majority of his life. Not sure if he'll grow more? He's put on weight since my friend first got him. I took alot of pics of him, they are on my website. Here are some of them. I named him Pumpkin because of his orange color.

"Pumpkin"

His "hugging" habit makes him easy to photograph

I love his black and red tongue, and his pretty eyes...

The top of his head looks like someone painted it!

I'm so happy with him and hope he'll be happy in his new home...

Thanks for looking. There are pics of him enclosure in a post I did a few days ago if anyone missed them.

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www.LynsLair.com
0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose (Wilbur)
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
1.0 Albino American Bullfrog (Prince)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.9 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Buttercup, Nala, Mystique, Jewel, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Princess Leo, Twister)

He's beautiful! Lots of orange for a Yellow, maybe he's an intergrade with an Everglades. Hope he does well for you. Sounds like he had a rough life and deserves a good home.
Lora

Looks more like Glades than Yellow. There seems to be some yellow influence because he's lacking the red eyes of a Glades. Nice snake and you'll have a ball. Glades dearly love to climb. If your cage allows it, be sure to give him a branch.

I dont know exactly what you mean when say "Yellow" (as i know this name connect with E. o. quadrivittata Deckerti race, whish is yellow), but it is not Everglades (i hope that is name of E. o. rossalleni). This is Quadrivittata subspecies.

I can post fotos of my quadrivittata, if you wish.
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Ivan Arinin
ICQ 151665951
E.g. guttata Normal 2.3
E.g. guttata Albino 2.4
E.g. guttata Oketee 2.0
E.g. guttata Hypo Oketee 1.1
E.g. guttata Albino Okeetee 2.2
E.g. guttata Ghost 2.3
E.g. guttata Motley 2.2
E.g. guttata Albino Motley 2.2
E.g. guttata Anerythristic 2.2
E.g. guttata Snow 2.4
E.g. guttata Creamsicle 2.1
E.g. rosacea 2.2
E.g. emoryi 2.2

E. persica black 3.4
E. persica brown 2.1
E. longissima 4.6
E. situla 3.3
E. dione 54
E. bimaculata 4.3
E. quatourlineata 10.15

E. o. obsoleta yellow 2.2
E. o. lindheimeri White Sided 2.2.
E. o. lindheomeri Leucistic 1.2
E. o. lindheimeri Black Orange 2.2
E. o. quatourlineata 1.3
E. o. quatourlineata Deckerti 2.2
E. o. quatourlineata Williamsi 1.0
E. o. rossalleni 2.2

Langaha madagascariensis 2.1.12
Cylindrophis ruffus 0.1
Enhydris plumbea 1.0

Yes, the Latin for Yellow rat snake is quadrivittata and the Everglades is rossalleni. The subspecies E. o. (quadrivitta)deckerti has a very limited range (upper keys variant) from the guides I've read, so they aren't as commonly collected. In the northern part of Florida where the ranges of quadrivitta and rossalleni overlap, the two species will interbreed naturally (intergrade). Animals collected from that area show a combination of traits from both species. For example, northern quadrivitta tend to have a black tongue and southern rossalleni tend to have a red toungue. The pictured snake has a red an black tongue so that's why it looked like an intergrade to me.
Lora

Thanks to everyone who has posted comments. I didn't think he looked 100% like all the Yellow Rat pics I'd seen online. I have no plans to breed him, so if he's an integrade that's fine with me, especially if that's what gave him his nice coloring.

For the one who said about climbing, I was told he does indeed love to climb. I had a $20 piece of driftwood and went out and bought him a bigger piece for $40, plus he has vines and fake plants. His enclosure pics are on my website and in a post I did a few days ago if you wish to see. It's a 40 gallon Breeder with Aspen bedding, a UTH and Heat Lamp, a hide, and the driftwood and plants. He likes the vines alot.

Would the "leftover" splotches be another clue to his true identity? I thought Yellow Rats lost all their splotches so I was surprised at his markings.
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www.LynsLair.com
0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose (Wilbur)
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
1.0 Albino American Bullfrog (Prince)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.9 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Buttercup, Nala, Mystique, Jewel, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Princess Leo, Twister)

I forgot you had posted that pic. He'll love it. BTW, I love your attitude. A good snake is a good snake reagrdless of lineage. That isn't very important unless you're breeding him. Congrats. I have no doubts you made a good acquisition and he'll love his new home.

I hope you didn't feel I was in any way being negative when I said I thought he might be an intergrade! They naturally intergrade and if it's not a problem for the snakes, it's not a problem with me! I've kept greenish rat snakes which are a black (obsoleta) and yellow (quadrivittata) intergrade. I love Everglades and think a little mix makes for a prettier yellow. There's some discussion that the draining of the everglades is allowing Yellow rats to push further south into historically Everglade territory so I'm sure there's a lot of mixing going on.
Good luck with your new snake- he's a keeper!
Lora

No, I didn't take your comments as negative Lora. I'm sorry if I sounded defensive. I have a Carpet Python who I adore. He is an integrade between a Jungle and a Coastal. Very common in Australia. If you lived there he is the type of snake you'd find in your backyard, no fancy stiped, high yellow ones like they breed now. The people on the Carpet Python forum snubbed their nose at Bear because he was an integrade and not pure Jungle or pure Coastal. Hurt my feelings because I think Bear is beautiful with his natural coloration. I wasn't sure how this forum felt on integrades but it seems they are more accepted than on the Carpet Python forum which makes me happy. Being that Pumpkin is 12 years old, I think it's a good possibility he's a WC snake which would make him as "natural" as you can get! I am thawing out a rat for him now to feed him for the first time.

Here is my other "integrade" Jungle x Coastal Carpet Python "Bear" (he gives Great Bear Hugs !!! )

Hopefully you guys will like him better than the folks on the Carpet Python forum!

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www.LynsLair.com
0.1 Cat (Mia)
4.2 Ferrets (Wolf, Shadow, Verdell, Sullivan, Boo, Peach)
1.0 Carpet Python (Bear)
1.0 Malagasy Blonde Hognose (Wilbur)
1.0 Whites Tree Frog (Trevor)
1.0 Albino American Bullfrog (Prince)
1.0 AFT Gecko (Cocoa)
5.9 Leopard Geckos (Trouble, Scooter, Simba, Firenze, Teddy, Buttercup, Nala, Mystique, Jewel, Freckles, Dotty, Zipper, Princess Leo, Twister)

With carpets, it's my understanding that when they were importing them into the US in the 70s-80s, there wasn't a clear differentiation between Coastals, Diamonds and Jungles (they were all just Carpets). It wasn't until later that people started looking for animals from specific locals (ex. Queensland or Irian Jaya). I know my old snake books don't differentiate between Jungles and Coastals. I've got a Carpet that I purchased as a hatchling in '95 that appears to be a Coastal but she could have a touch of Diamond or Jungle since she's got a pretty strong pattern on her head. She's a pretty snake and has taught me alot over the 9 years keeping her. I'll post a pic on the Carpet forum if you'd like to see.
Good luck with your snakes!
Lora

The main reason you rarely see me posting on the Python or Boa forums is the judgmental approach of those folks. That's a nice looking snake and he sounds like a great pet. Carpets are very cool creatures and, if nothing else, intergrades offer a better price option. Glad to have you on the forum.

I am actually wondering if my Yellow Rat Snake is full blood. I mean this is my first yellow and I bought him when he was a hatchling and it's really hard to tell the difference between a lot of young rat snakes. I mean he has the classic black tongue but his eyes are almost orange/red. I don't know if that's normal cause judging from other yellow rat snake pics I have seen mine is more orange I guess.Here are some pics I took back in October. In the one pic you can clearly see how orange his eyes are but he is very high yellow for being under a year old in that picture. He is about a year old now. I have a better camera now and I'll take some pics when I get a chance.

If he is 12 now I doubt he will get any bigger although he could continue to grow some.. most yellow rat snakes average a length of 4-7 feet anyway so I am not to sure.I am sure that the lack of propery care might have stunned his growth some. My year old yellow is over 2 feet in length now and when I got him my GF called him a 'worm' since he was only maybe 8-10 inches long and pencil thin. Like I said he grew over a foot in length in a years time but did not get to thick yet.The thickest part of him now is about as fat as an adults middle finger. He is already a very powerful constrictor! He wrapped around my fingers so hard he cut off my circulation once! He was pretty ticked off I dug him out of the aspen to clean his cage..lol..
He is a beauty no matter what size or intergrade he is! I mean I really don't think it matters as long as you are happy with the snake!

I wish you had locale information on him. He sure looks Deckerti to me. The Keys or Deckert's rat snake has well defined brown to black stripes and generally retains some doesal pattern as adult.

Terry Parks