Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! My family has two ratsnakes, a yellow and a black, and they are both VERY VERY feisty. They bite all the time, squirm, flail, and worst of all, they musk readily. We have other Elaphids and they all have beautiful temperaments. I was wondering if we just got a double-dose of excitable snakes through pure chance or if this a rat snake thing...??? Because a few people have seemed surprised to hear that our ratsnakes were so belligerent. Thanks a lot!!!

LAURA*

Are they hatchlings? Are they captive bred or wild caught? Hatchlings and wild caught ratsnakes tend to do the things you mentioned more often than captive bred ratsnakes with a little age on them. The two subspecies you mentioned are not known to be particularly aggressive, especially if captive bred, at least a few months old and handled. Randy W.

I agree with everthing randy said...but if they are wild caught they aren't totally hopeless. Just handle them enough.. read the thread directly above this one called "will she ever NOT bite me" for tips. what was said for her should work for you as well!

good luck

-chris
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Claudius)... coming soon

The Black Rat is about... 8 years I think. I'm not sure if he was wild caught because my parents got him from a friend and I wasn't involved, since I was 12ish. I'll have to ask them about it, but anyhow, he used to bite all the time, now he strikes a fair amount, and his musking has gotten worse, but if I take him gently out without giving him a good angle to bite my hand he's well-behaved. But he starts going crazy again if I move too quickly or if someone else walks by, etc. The Yellow Rat is about... 3 years old, and she was actually very docile as a hatchling. I bought her from a pet store, so I don't know her origins, but I remember being mesmerized by how sweet she was while thinking of hte Black Rat (Diablo) at home... Well, she got crankier with age and is now VERY nervy. She is by far the most nervy snake of all 30-some that we own (even including a senile bullsnake and a few nasty hatchlings). And, contrary to the Black Rat, the Yellow (Sulphur is her name, because she's lovely but noxious gets MORE agitated with gentle handling instead of calming!!!!!!! Maybe it's a phase... Obviously they don't get daily handling in a house with 30 snakes, so maybe they just need a little more constant attention than the others. I just don't like them being so nervy because it means they get horribly stressed out and afraid every time I clean their cages. ALSO, they both glare at people who walk around the room and hiss and strike if you come too close to the glass, thought the black rat recently has been just staring. Hm, well, I'm sure that was more than enough, and none of it helpful, but thank you for your help, I'll talk to my parents about it as soon as I can!!!

LAURA*

I wanna see a pic of your black rat just "staring" at people. That just sounds funny to me. Good luck with those things, they sound awfully frustrating.
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Matt from Minnesota
Cornsnake, Eastern Kingsnake, IL Bullsnake - all girls.
0.1 Crested Gecko "Camey"; 1.0 Crested Gecko "Spots" RIP