Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone,

I'm getting closer to making a decision on a snake, and am wondering what your thoughts on these two snakes are. Are they both about the same for ease of handling, and care? From what I've read the Bairds seem to be a bit bigger. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I also like the Licorice Stick ratsnake-there was one in a reputable pet store that I handled. He seemed pretty relaxed. I still like corns, and am thinking about the Amel Butter or Okeetee. Thanks for any help, ya'll have been great!

Mike

Personally, I don't like corns. They are too common, i'm just not the biggest fan of them. I have a texas bairdi, and a licorice stick black ratsnake. the licorice stick will grow larger than a bairdi, which has the potential to grow larger than a corn. if you're really obsessed about size as an adult, get the corn. if you want a snake you can watch grow from an ugly duckling into something flat out stunning, but wont mind shelling over $100 or so for an enclosure - get the bairdi. If you want one that will grow somewhat larger, probably 6-7 feet, but is extremly docile and you also dont mind spending upwards of $100 for an enclosure (as an adult of course), then get the licorice stick.

My texas bairdi is a very active snake, with a personality all her own. my licorice stick black rat is the calmest most docile thing i've ever handled. she was my first snake, and a great one at that!
-----
-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
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

These are all good starter snakes. They are all rather different looking as adults and slightly different in size.

The Black Rat will require more/larger food items as adults and slightly larger caging. Babies have the potenitial to be a little defensive, but they grow out of that quickly.
Baird's rats are still reasonably uncommon in the pet trade, but are great snakes. They can also be breathtakingly beautiful as adults.
Corns are fairly common, but the reason they are common is that they make great "pet" snakes. They are easy to keep. I think some of the "Okeetee" lines are stunning as are some of the amels.

Frankly, you can't go wrong with any of these. You just have to decide which snake you like better.
-----
Chris Harrison

ALL wonderful animals. It boils down to size and color and what your personal preference might be. As far as expense of cages is concerned (mentioned above)...I keep my larger ratsnakes in 50 gallon sterilite containers that I found at Wal*Mart for 10 bucks each. More $$ left to spend on frozen rodents!

No matter what you get you cant go wrong if you get a healthy feeding corn/rat.You will never be able to own just one snake anyway.The fever will hit you hard and you will have all of them in a years time anyway.My wife told me 4 snakes ago she would divorce me if I came home with another one.LOL.
Male ratsnakes do get some size to them and Marcel in the cornsnake forum has a 6 foot male normal/natural.

A nice, short, realistic wishlist. Easy to fill. Hard to resist.