Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
2 days ago my husband rushed home with a snake he was positive was some sort of python, or perhaps a boa...I spent a few hours online to find out that it was some sort of Rat Snake. I didn't believe it was a Black Rat, as it seemed to be a yearling and was still a lovely light grey with a reddish cast in the light, and black spots all the way down. It has a white chin and underside, as well as green markings on the outside of the belly. (I will post pics asap). From the minute it came into our house it was quite calm, easily handled and only took a defensive posture when I removed the hide and reached toward it too rapidly. He found it on the porch of a friends house (the friend was going to kill it) and brought it home to show me, planning on letting it go. We made a midnight run to Walmart for some basic supplies (20 gal aquarium-reptile lid...snake mat...heat lamp...) and I set it up that first night with a plastic piture lid to hide in. Yesterday we took it to a large reptile shop in Nashville,TN-they told us that this was a female gray rat hybrid, and looked to be a bit over a year old. We purchased a live feeder and several frozen, as well as an under the tank heating pad, ceramic hide cave, thermometer and a suitable water dish. I never thought of myself as a snake person, but she really is quite beautiful, and so calm that even the Reptile store commented on it, in fact they offered to buy the snake from us. I've never owned a snake before, and my only reservation on this is that she may not be a suitable pet-because she is WC. This evening I re outfitted the tank and when everything was in place and warm on one side-I put her back in and about a half hour later I introduced the live feeder. It only took about 5 minutes for her to strike and begin to feed. After she ate she went into the water dish and ultimately ended up inside the newly added ceramic hide and I haven't seen her in quite a few hours. I know not to handle her for at least a day after she eats. I guess I am just wondering if perhaps we really should just let her go. We can't take her back to where she was caught, and there are several outside cats and dogs in my neighborhood, which would leave the option of taking her to the "woods" somewhere. Does anyone think this yearling will realistically ever eat prekilled frozen? I am not thrilled at the idea of being bound to Live Feeders. Do WC Ratsnakes make suitable pets? Should we just let her go? If we let her go, then we would probably look into purchasing another Rat Snake, or Corn Snake-as we are pretty much completely outfitted...Oh Yes one more thing. I am getting conflicting info on what type of bedding to use. I know No Cedar, but We purchased this Aspen stuff in addition to the mat, which is much softer than astro turf, and now Ive read that the chip style bedding can get lodged in their mouths...Bedding or no bedding? And the Heat light, I've been told that the light is not necessary as long as there is an under cage heater, I was also told that flourescent lights can hurt the snake...is this true? what about a flourescent black light? The light I have in the tank is a flourescent black light...should I take it out? We Purchased a Heat Rock from Petsmart, and were told by the Reptile Store that it could potentially burn her, so we returned it. I'm just getting way too much conflicting info and need a little help sorting it all out!!!To all of you that have read this far-I sincerely thank you for your time! Any feedback on any one of these issues would be greatly appreciated!
Thank You All,
~M~

Welcome to the World of Ratsnakes! Sounds like you have a nice little snake and are off to a good start. Yes, you can keep her, and she may very well accept frozen/thawed from you. The thing about wild-caught is that you will eventually want to take a stool sample to a reputable reptile vet to see is she has any internal parasites which need to be dealt with. Other than that, she sounds like a wonderful snake.
An under-tank heater will be fine. Aspen is great, but you may wish to feed her in another container or something so she does not get a mouthfull. Some of my ratsnakes allow me to hold the prey up off the aspen for them while they swallow it (I use hemostats). Also, especially since she's new...Give her at least 2 days after feeding before you handle her.
Good luck with your new snake. We would love to see some pics real soon. Duffy

Thank you for the reply! She seems to be doing quite well today, she was in her warm hide-after eating-for about 4 or 5 hours then she wandered over to the cool side for a few more hours...now she is active and wandering around...just checking things out. She does not seem to mind when we come up to the aquarium, just pauses then continues what she was doing. I was shocked that this WC Grey would kill and eat the feeder so quickly after introducing it...especially since she had a captive audience! We have a 4 year old daughter who is uncontrollably curious about our new addition, she has been glued to the aquarium every waking minute for the last 3 days! This little grey just doesn't seem to care. I think we've officially added a new member to our family...Yes, she's going to stay...
Thanks,
~M~

I put together a basic care sheet a little while ago

students.uwf.edu/crt4/care.html

She should switch over to f/t (frozen/thawed) mice somewhat easily. Being just a yearling it hasnt really had time to find its little niche in the wild so it should easily adapt to captive life. I agree take a stool sample to get tested for parasites - what they can survive with in the wild can be deadly in captivity.

I see no problem with flourescent lights. They produce approximately the same wavelengths as incandescant fixtures do...i've never had a problem...and can't forsee one. I use an incandescant blacklight for 24/7 heating and nocturnal viewing.

I formerly used astroturf, just recently made the switch to aspen and I love it - so do my snakes. just either dont feed on the astroturf, feed like jimmy said using hemostats (mine like to constrict too much even the dead stuff to do that though lol), or you could even put a paper towel out and put the food on that and let 'em get it. YOu may want to also get some 1/2" wooden dowels from home depot and conect 'em with zip ties to make a climbing structure - your snake will love it! I put my mice on top of the cage under the heat light to defrost - my snake smells it and crawls up the "branches" and usually eats up there lol. you could also feed it in a sperate container to prevent impaction.

um..yeah. thats about it that i havent mentioned in the care sheet! Welcome to the wonderful world of rat snakes!

and www.bigcheeserodents.com - best place i've found to get rodents
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The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

Battling ignorance one stupid person at a time.

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Neonate Black Rat (het for Lic Stk's) (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)