Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About four pages back on the ratsnake forum, there was a post on the subject of spilotus pullatus containing the following passage:

"Ratsnakes belong to the tribus Lampropeltini, along with kingsnakes, milksnakes, gopher/pinesnakes, longnosed snakes, glossy snakes etc. This means they share a common ancester more recent than with other groups of colubrid snakes, therefore having a higher degree of genetic compatibility within the group boundaries compared to species of other such groups. Spilotus belongs to the tribus Colubrini, along with races, coachwhips and indigo's. Therefore it is very unlikely that Spilotus is genetically compatible with snakes belonging to the tribus Lampropeltini. Also, Spilotus (not unlike the closely related indigo) seem to be ophiophageous, so any attempts to interbreed Spilotus with Pantherophis would propably end up with the latter being eaten by the former."

I've been looking at pics of tiger rats, especially this one: http://www.xtremereptiles.com/webpics/snakes/tigerrat.jpg and it does seem to have some interesting characteristics, though I know looks don't necessarily mean anything.

What I'm getting at is that I'm interested to know what the racer enthusiasts have to say about the tiger rat's lineage. Does the post I quoted sound accurate to you? Do you guys think it is more closely related to racers than ratsnakes?

Also, not to sound too dumb (sorry, I'm not a racer person, so I don't have the foggiest), but I was told that racers are not constrictors, and then read that the scientific name is coluber constrictor. Can anyone tell me how this came about?

Welcome, I am glad someone fimaly posted something. I breed Coachwhips and Spilotes! (My) answer to your question is yes. My reasoning is as follows;
1. Racers are named racers because they are fast.
2. Racers are sight oriented and hunt by sight.
3. A Racers diet is variable since they key on movement.
4. Racers view handeling as agression on your part.

Spilotes Pullatus is no different as far as "personality" than my Coachwhips. They max out at 13' and captive specimens can have a girth similar to the Indigo! They are one of the largest non venomous colubrids in the world. They range in color from yellow to black, usualy banded. There are tri-color and quad color. Black,white and yellow plus black orange, white and yellow. Some animals are also speckeled. I know this is more than you asked but this forum needed a shot in the arm. The reason (I) am calling them racers is only that I do not see any difference in behavior and I am also hoping someone with a different point of view will post so we can all learn more. They are one of my favorate snakes.

hmm well from what youve described id say they are much more closely related to racers than other ratsnakes but one thing ive learned is not to group snakes according to common names. For instnance look at Ptyas, theyre called ratsnakes however they are agressive fast and rear fanged and mildly venomous. while im not sure about actuall taxonomy, id have to look that up,however i seriously doubt they are closely related to any new world ratsnakes of the genus pantherophis which are completely non venomous. and thats just one example that i can think of off the top of my head but there are plenty more.

Thanks for the info. You said you breed them? Just out of curiosity, how much does a neonate go for? The site with that picture from my last post apparently sells adults for $61, which seemed ridiculously low to me.

Also, if racers are not constrictors, how did they (some of them) get that name, Coluber constrictor?

Thanks again for the info.

I bred speckled to speckled. I have 7 offspring from this pairing. Female speckled from Honduras are HARD to come by. As far as I know these are the only ofspring from a pairing of this sort. My animals are not for sale but Strictly Reptiles imports them. I am not aware of any hatchlings for sale at this time.

I agree that the Spilotes are more closely related to racers, etc....they have almost nothing in common with the NA rat snakes as far as I see.

By the way, some good friends of mine were successful in producing 2 clutches of Spilotes this past fall. I am not sure if they still have any for sale, but you can check with them. Here is a link to their website:

http://primareptilia.com/
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-David Beard

www.herpview.com

1. Are all speckled spilotes from Honduras?

2. Witch subspecies is the biggest if any?

Thanks a lot
Jonas

I am curious as too what a "speckled" Spilotes refers to(is it simply a color morph?) or is it restricted to Honduras only? I am curious as I (and a friend) have 2 Costa Rican Spilotes. The snakes from NW Costa Rica(Guanacaste) tend to show high amounts of Yellow, whereas the rest(similar to mine) show varying degrees. Most of the posterior length of the snake is black with the anterior about 50/50 black/yellow with some striping.

I plan on getting more later this summer.

Thanks.

Matt Harris