Reptile & Amphibian Forums

(yes this has been posted in the milksnakes and the ratsnakes catagories, sorry for the triple posting, but i dont how many people will read all three)

I am new to snake keeping, and I ordered a licorice stick black rat snake. She's just over 18 inches long. Today in the pet store, I saw a beautiful plebian (sp) milk snake, around the same size, for $35. There were 5 or so, and I asked her if he could live fine with a lic stick, she wasnt sure so shes holding him...but would they get along? or would this be utter doom for both? Right now I would have them in a 29 gallon tank, however within a month or two they would be living in a 75 gallon. I would of course have a total of 4 hiding spots, 2 on teh warm and 2 on the cool sides....I'm just wondering how they'd get along. Please let me know. -Chris

I mean I'd like to have both, I really like the markings of both, but I don't want them to be miserable together, and I can't have two tanks.
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

I wouldn't. Milksnakes are Lampropeltis, the genus for the kingsnakes. Kingsnakes get the name because they are snake eaters. Even if both animals are the same size, the risk remains. If the ratsnake is considerably larger, & will remain so, it may work, except that ratsnakes have also been known to eat snakes. As a general rule, you are better off housing your snakes seperately except when attempting to breed them.

~~Greg~~

Greg said it....

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

Whenever I read a question like this, I recall what Ginter says about the issue. He points out that snakes , even snakes of the same species, are solitary creatures in the wild.

ok thanks for everyone's replies. I don't have room for two seperate tanks right now...so i'll just stick with the licorice stick black rat snake. Thanks!

(there she is, 9 months old, ~18 inches long)
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -Unknown

Milks and rats should not be put together. I do not keep any of my snakes together unless I am trying to breed them...they are together only momentarily. Keep em seperated.

Why must you use such a large tank for these snakes? You can house the pueblan milk in a shoebox container (ie a rubbermaid clear plastic shoebox 16qt) with newspaper or aspen shavings as substrate. It works pretty well. Put ventilation holes in the lid and sides of the box. They make rubbermaid boxes that have side that clamp the lid tight. I have a full grown adult baird's rat snake in a rubbermaid 30qt sweater box. It allows plenty of moving space for him and he cannot get out because of the locking lid. It is smaller than a 29 gallon aquarium too. I also have a juvenile rat snake in a 16 quart container and he has plenty of room to move too.
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14 Leopard Geckos 5.9.0
Found 2 Leo eggs (JungleXBlizzard) today. 5/23/04
2 Tokay Geckos 2.0.0
1 Graybanded Kingsnake 1.0.0 (on vacation in my house)
1 Baird's Rat Snake (Thanks Vadoni!) 1.0.0
1 Gray Ratsnake 0.0.1
2 Dekay's Snake 0.0.2
1.0 Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum
1.1 Green Tree Frogs (H. cinerea)
1.1 Gray Tree Frog (H versicolor)

I would keep them seperate untill you get the 75 gal. But if they do not get a long put them in seperate tanks. If i sent you money would u get me a milk? IMIDesertEagle50AE@msn.com

Brandon