Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's a pic of my first rat snake. He measures out at 83", but of course he's all tail! This is the easiest going tiger rat I've come across (for a tiger rat!) and has yet to strike at me. I'm sure it's just a matter of time though....

What facinates me the most about this guy is his level of alertness and sensitivity to movement. It's tough to tell most of the time if my other snakes even know I'm there, but this guy seems to look right through me. What a piercing stare! All of you tiger rat owners know what I'm talking about.

Anyway he has a small nose rub on the top of his nose that I'm treating with neosporin. This is my first snake with a nose rub (he was like that when I bought him). Do these heal and look somewhat normal?

Thanks!

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1.0 Malagasy Giant Hognose
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
0.1 Guyana Red Tail Boa
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Black Milksnake
0.0.1 Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes)

Congratulations. Nice yellow bands the length of the snake. I really liked the pair I had. You've already noticed how alert tiger rat snakes are. They have keen eyesight for a snake and they have a high metabolism. They will usually deficate the day after or sometimes the same day they eat. They are arboreal and like to be elevated. The one Tiger rat snake I saw with a rubbed nose healed fine and looked good after it healed. I don't know how long the one you got has had and/or been rubbing its nose. Some of the wild caughts have rubbed noses from the way they can be put in bags and crates for extended amounts of time.

He hasn't nipped you yet and said hello? That's great. I guess no one has sexed him yet. My pair each gave me a nice hello nip or two when I had to check their respective sex by probing. I wouldn't wait until your snake is 8 plus feet. LOL.

Here's a pic of the female I had. She had reached about 7 feet when I had her.

Good luck
Terry Parks

I built based on instructions given to me by Dangerous Dan Felice alias "Double D" or just "DD". I had to build it and send him some pics on a deal he made with me that he would send me the male spilotes after I built it. I received the male prior to getting a female. DD said he was a male, but hadn't been probed. DD was going to do it the weekend before he shipped. Dan said if I don't hear from him that I could have the pick of his snakes since he didn't survive the probing. LOL. Well, in the email he sent to me letting me know the spilotes had been shipped, he mentioned he didn't get to probe it. Since I was getting a spilotes from someone else to pair up with the one DD sent, I had to probe him when he arrived. Let's just say that spilotes don't grab you like prey when they bite. They have slashing bites when defending themselves. My wife mentioned to me after it was done that I should have worn a long sleeve flannel shirt when I probed him. I told her I was wearing one. LOL. I'm beginning to miss my spilotes again. My spilotes settled down real nice and I could handle them without incident, but once in awhile I could tell if one of them wasn't into me holding it so I would oblige and leave it alone for that day.

Terry Parks

Terry,

When I was doing research on tiger rats I came across that awesome pic of yours looking down at you! Very cool!
I'm hoping for a great display snake after mine get's acclimated. He's spending most of his time retreating to his hide while I try to sneak in the snake room and snap a pic!
As far as sexing I didn't want to add any stress when I bought him (or her), so I'll save that for later.

Thanks for the input.
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1.0 Malagasy Giant Hognose
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake
0.1 Guyana Red Tail Boa
1.0 Ball Python
1.0 Black Milksnake
0.0.1 Tiger Rat Snake (Spilotes)