Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I've been keeping snakes for about 5 years now, and just recently I decided to emphasize more focus on keeping ratsnakes, mainly the North American species, rather than just have a little of everything (not an easy task, I assure you). I currently keep 6, and am hoping to pair up the ones I do have, as well as acquire the other ratsnake species.

ratsnakes I currently own:

1.0 Gray ratsnake
1.0 Black ratsnake
0.1 Texas ratsnake
0.0.1 Baird's Ratsnake (they sure seem popular around here)
1.1 Corn snakes

Bry

male gray rat

nothing but love for me

male black rat

female corn snake

male candy cane corn (rescue from an old roommate)

female Texas rat

unsexed Baird's ratsnake...I need to get some updated pics of him (any way to tell if he's Texas or Mexican?) The pet shop had him labeled as a gray ratsnake. I felt bad for his mistaken identity, so I picked him up and took him home...

male gray rat

nothing but love for me

male black rat

female corn snake

male candy cane corn (rescue from an old roommate)

female Texas rat

unsexed Baird's ratsnake...I need to get some updated pics of him (any way to tell if he's Texas or Mexican?) The pet shop had him labeled as a gray ratsnake. I felt bad for his mistaken identity, so I picked him up and took him home...

Very Nice! One of the best looking Texas Rat Snakes I've ever seen! Thanks for posting.

Michael

>>male gray rat
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>>nothing but love for me
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>>male black rat
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>>
>>female corn snake
>>
>>
>>male candy cane corn (rescue from an old roommate)
>>
>>
>>female Texas rat
>>
>>
>>unsexed Baird's ratsnake...I need to get some updated pics of him (any way to tell if he's Texas or Mexican?) The pet shop had him labeled as a gray ratsnake. I felt bad for his mistaken identity, so I picked him up and took him home...
>>

Welcome to the forum.
I agree that is a very nice looking Texas rat.
And the other snakes are nice, too.
How old is the Bairdi in that photo? I believe the Texas bairdis will retain more grey then the Mexican. It seems that the Mexicans tend to mature a more yellowish/orangeish over all(like the way I make up words?..lol) while the Texas bairdis tend to be more grey with the yellows, oranges and bronzes as under tones.
Now, I could be full of it, too....lol
I am by far no expert on Bairds Rat snakes. I love them and have two Texas Bairdis of my own but very little experience other then what I have gathered here and what I have personally gained by raising mine.
Sam:

Rosie:

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Bry -
You've put together some very nice rat snakes. I agree with the others that the Texas rat snake you have is awesome. You definitely should pair her up with a nice male to carry on her genes.
How large is the bairds you have? It doesn't look to be 2 years or older. Since the pet store didn't have it labeled right, I wouldn't trust an age if they told you. Mexican and Texas bairds can look very close until after 2 years and approaching 3. It can take a bairds rat snake up to 3 years (generally 2 years) to make the color transition and crossbar to stripe. Here's a pic of an adult Mexican bairds and I'll follow with a baby Mexican pic. This adult female Mexican Bairds was wild caught in 1985 in Linares Canyon, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on a permit by Steve Hammack. She must be 18 to 20 years young. Still young enough to drop a clutch of 12 eggs this year.

Terry Parks

I thought I had it figured out on telling a Texas from a Mexican baird baby. I'd like to think I can, but I can't most of the time. You don't look at the crossbars and color to tell the difference when they are young. The Mexican bairds will be thinner than the Texas bairds. Texas bairds have more girth and are larger compared to the Mexicans.

Terry Parks

Thanks for the compliments, guys. I'm hoping to find a nice male to go with my female TX rat. I recently got an email with an offer on a pair of orange phase TX rats. So, I might look into that. As for the Baird's, I got him/her sometime around the end of winter, and he is about 2.5 feet now, still a little guy. I'm not even sure on the sex of my Baird's, as I don't know how to pop a snake properly, and s/he's still a bit young to probe. I have been thinking about getting a pair of young Baird's about the same age and go from there.

Here's some pic updates I took for you guys today.

Here's a better pic of her colors. She has yellows and reds that don't really show out in pics.

Your bairds looks Texas Baird. I'll even say he looks like the Texas bairds from the Davis Mountain area. I most certainly don't know that the barids is from the Davis Mountains, but he does look like the Texas bairds coming from that area.

Terry Parks