Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I have a female everglade that I've had for 10 years.....is she too old to breed from?
A friend has a Rat snake, not sure what type(or was it corn snake?...can't remember) and has asked if I would like to borrow his male for breeding purposes.
Both are about 5.5ft in length so that is not a problem but do I need to breed her with another Everglade or will any type of rat snake be ok?
I have read about conditioning and brumation etc I just need to know that the 2 types of rat snake are compatable.

Thank you
John (UK)

Well, it really depends on what you want. If you like to produce hybrids, then you can use your friends Cornsnake. In fact, Corns and Everglades have been crossbred on more than one occassion, and some of these hybrids admittedly can be quite handsome. However, since the Everglades Ratsnake is getting rare in the wild, I strongly recommend breeding Everglades to Everglades only. Crossbreeding rossaleni to any other subspecies of obsoleta will not be problematic at all, but most of these mixtures will turn out to be quite ugly. So take a look around and try to find an Everglades male instead, it definately is worth the effort.

By the way, most ratsnakes will breed until the age of 15, so your animal still has some reproductive years ahead of her.

Greetings,

Herman Bronsgeest.

Thanks for the helpfull advice Herman. I'm looking for a male Everglade first then I will decide. Do both snakes need to be of similar size as I have heard elsewhere?

Thanks
John (UK)

You can use a smaller male if that is all you can find. Rat snakes don't care. Females in the wild seem to accept any male that she meets while in season.

Do try to find another Everglade. There is no big demand for interglades or hybrids.

Rick