Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Which species of racer is the hardest to handle? i.e. aggressive, fast, etc.

Just about all racers are aggressive and hard to handle. I would have to say they all are pretty much in the same boat. You do find the occasional racer that is pretty chill and wont try to chew your arms and hands off!! LOL

But on the whole, the racers and coachwhips are all up there on the aggressive scale!! I have handled northern blacks, southern blacks, blues, and eastern yellowbellies, and I would have to say that the eastern yellow belly was a little less inclined to bite than the others, but they still bit.
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1.0 Corn snake (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes (MO locale)
1.0 Eastern Yellow Belly racer (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Yellow rat snake (Dwight Good stock)
1.1 California king snake (Coastal phase)
1.0 Prairie king snake (KY locale)
0.1 Black king snake (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern Milk snake (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern/Red milk intergrade (KY locale)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

They are a lot more defensive than aggressive. The ones that I catch only bite if grabbed quickly which will scare the snake. When they did bite, they would release as soon as your released them.
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Andy Maddox
AIM: thekingofproduct
MSN: Poloboy32486@hotmail.com
Yahoo:surfandskimtx04
Houston Herp Key
The Reptizone

"Some things will never change. They just stand there looking backwards. Half-unconsious from the pain. They may seem rearranged. In the backwater swirling. There is something that'll never change-The Meat Puppets"

I have heard of people looking for black racers to practice for handling hots but i'm not real sure which one would be the nastiest.. I own a blue racer(yellow bellied racer) its pretty small still but is pretty mellow when being held.

Jason

That's actually along the lines of what I want. By no means would the snake be mistreated or anything. Just something for added expierence. But mellow isn't gonna get the job done. I could go with my kingsnake for that.

get yourself a large adult W/C southern or northern black, and Ill guarantee you will have your hands full!!! LOL
Here is one a buddy of mine caught, and as you can see he was wearing gloves. This one continually bit until we released him after the photo session!!!

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1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Punisher and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Eastern Yellow Belly racer "Nightcrawler" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Yellow rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.1 California king snake "Bandit and Moonstar" (Coastal phase)
1.0 Prairie king snake "Bishop" (KY locale)
0.1 Black king snake "Domino" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern Milk snake "Cable" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern/Red milk intergrade "Omega Red" (KY locale)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

That's what I figured. Just wanted to know if some were worse than others. Hoping I find one at the Whiteplains show this sunday. Thanks.

as a W/C specimen. I dont know of anyone who breeds them either, as they are a very fast and agile snake. Not easy to hold at all, especially one that is pissed off and scared at the same time!!

They have a certain personality that other colubrids dont possess. Seems like racers are a little more intelligent and more aware of their surroundings. Perhaps it is due to the racer being a snake that actively hunts using eyesight as well as smell. Most racers I have ever caught, will between bites, watch you like a hawk. They seem to watch your hands and time their bites more so than say a rat snake. Most rat snakes will either just blindly bite anything and everything, or grab your arm and chew, if they bite at all. Racers on the other hand, seem to study a way out of being caught and will bite repeatedly on your hand that has it or when you try and shift it within your grasp.

My Eastern yellow belly doesnt bite at all and is pretty mellow. But he seems to watch me more intently than any of my other snakes. He always rears up, sorta like a king cobra, and looks around at his surroundings. None of my other snakes do anything like that.

Racers are quickly becoming one of my favorite snakes, and I think they are highly underrated due to their aggressive behavior. But if someone was to start breeding them, I bet C/B racers would be very fine pets, and would catch on quickly.

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1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Punisher and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Eastern Yellow Belly racer "Nightcrawler" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Yellow rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
1.1 California king snake "Bandit and Moonstar" (Coastal phase)
1.0 Prairie king snake "Bishop" (KY locale)
0.1 Black king snake "Domino" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern Milk snake "Cable" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Eastern/Red milk intergrade "Omega Red" (KY locale)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Your quest for the King of attitude is something that may not last and here is what I mean. Most if not all sighthunters hunt by chasing and holding for the most part. When we capture one of these animals we usualy chase but always hold. As long as we are viewed as the predator attitude will happen, not to mention highly stressing a wild animal. The dicotomy is this, the more we handle these animals the less of a threat we are and the behavior you seek will disapate. If left alone in and handled when nessessery the behavior may remain intact. Water snakes which are also top end sighthunters will give the most bite for your buck. All racers are high strung and it all boils down to individual personalitys. I have coachwhips wild caught that don,t bite and captive born animals that have much attitude.

which I think I'm going to, the idea would be to only handle it for normal husbandry. The last think I want to do is stress out a snake for no good reason. Thy way I look at it, if it's really pissed, great. I enjoy snakes that are active and what's more active than trying to bite? If it's mellow, than maybe I have a future breeding project or just a really cool new addition. Either way I can't lose. Thanks for all the advise. I can't believe this actually made the forum list on the main page. Gotta admit though, awesome forum.