Reptile & Amphibian Forums

On another forum is was mostly believed that this was an Everglades Rat snake. When I bought it they told me it was a Great Plains Rat Snake (I 100% believe it is not.) I believe it to be an Everglade based on other pictures I have seen when searching the web but I am brand new to snakes.

I also do not know the sex of my snake. Does anyone know a vet able to tell me in Pittsburgh, PA?

Does this snake need to be misted?

How many furries should it get at one time? I had fed it one last week.
Link

A very pretty snake. lol. It definately is not a great plains ratsnake, however i'm unsure if it's a pure everglades. Everglades (from the ones i've seen) don't usually have the crossbar patterning... and this would make me think it is an intergrade with a yellow rat snake. (This actually is fairly common in the wild.) That's my best shot at it.

Does this snake need to be misted?
No. Just as long as you don't have an extremly dry house, the relative humidity in your house should suffice. (Roughly 50%) If it has trouble shedding, I would start misting just one squirt a day during the shed period. This will help you out quite a bit.

How many furries should it get at one time? I had fed it one last week.
By furries i'm presuming you mean fuzzies... and are you talking about mouse or rat fuzzies? Looking at its size relative to your hand, i'd say it's probably too big for mouse fuzzies. You want something that when fed will leave a nice little lump in its tummy. General rule of thumb is to feed NO LARGER THAN 1.5 times the girth of the largest part of its body. If you feed too large, the mouse will rot before digested, causing sicknesses and so forth... large vet bills. Just feed one prey item that leaves a noticable lump, then move on up as needed.
-----
-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)

I am talking about mouse furries. The have fur on them but are bigger then pinkie mice. I'll put a picture on the same site of them. I bought 50 of them at the show last weekend.

The person holding the snake is my 12 year old son; I was taking the pictures. The snake is about 28 inches long. The mouse left a bump for a short while in the snake but after a bit you could barely tell it ate it. I am a worrier so I will state that outright. I love this snake although it appears I got picked clean by the store I bought it at. Price I pay for not knowing. I think its a very cool looking snake though and it is very nice when being handled.

Give me a minute or two to put up the feeder mice picture.

yeah, he should be eating 2-3 mouse fuzzies. I feed mine 7 days apart at this size (every saturday night.) If you bought it from a pet store, you paid too mouch anyway. But if you're happy with the snake, then you'll agree that it was worth it. Just out of morbid curiosity, how much DID you end up paying? 'Glades and emoryis usually run the same price from what i've seen... so it probably wasnt much of a difference.
-----
-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)

They had this "Great Plains Rat Snake" priced at $75.99

What is the average price for what I have?

I promise to only read the reply to this with one eye open hehe. I know I'll be mad when I see it.

Yearlings typically run around $40 or so right now, but then you have to figure in $30-$40 for shipping. And whenever you ship an animal you always have the possibility it may not eat from the sever stress it goes through. I've only had that happen to me on one neonate texas bairdi, and he ended up dying, but the other 4 shipped no problem (that i've ordered and had shipped). So for a healthy yearling everglades, I think it's a good deal.
-----
-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)

Knowing already how big fuzzy mice are and looking at your snake, since you bought 50 frozen, I'd say feed your snake AT LEAST 2 fuzzies at a time, you'll be pleasantly surprised, and might even go up to 3. By the time you're out of fuzzies, you can switch up to full grown mice.
-----
Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

If you look at Mouse Factory web site they call what I bought Lg Pinkies. They aren't quite as old looking as what that site calls fuzzies. I guess I should have bought the next size. The pet store told me to feed him small pinkies!!! I knew that wasn't right as soon as I saw how tiny those things were.

Is it better to feed 2x a week than 2 at one time?

I dont see any issues with either format, 2 at once or 2 times a week with one feeding. I personally would just do both fuzzies at the same time. The size issue isnt really an exact science down to the exact weight of the fuzzies or length. You figure the snakes out in the wild dont have much control over the food items they come across, they're adapted to take a pretty broad range of food sizes.
-----
Tom
TCJ Herps
"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

Hey---I live in Pittsburgh too; I know Dr. Wagner at VCA Fox Chapel Vet Hospital on Freeport Road sees herps, as does Dr. Betsy Kennon at Harts Run Animal Hospital. I have used All Pet Animal Hospital on Rte. 8 in Gibsonia for an iguana and was very impressed...any of these should be able to sex your snake or deal with it if it gets sick...Good luck with him...He's very pretty...

SR

YAY! Thanks for the information. I'll keep it on hand and maybe take it up there to make sure things are okay.