Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can anyone please identify this RatSnake?? The pet store had it labled as "red-backed" rat......but it looks more like a yellow or possibly a black-yellow intergrade......I'd like to know what kind it is....any help would be very appreciated. Thank you.

Looks like a redbacked rat snake to me, or Elaphe rufodorsata.

kk

Or is it now called Oacatochus rufodorsatus?

Thank you very much for your response.

The pic is of a snake I bought a week ago. Every pic I've seen of red backed rats have more of a pattern on the top of the head. I also read that they're more similar to garters then rats....their diet consists mostly of frogs and fish. Do red backed rats constrict their prey? My snake constricted and ate a mouse a couple days ago. He's about 3 feet long by the way. Could he still be a red backed rat snake?

I am sure that it is not rufodorsata, but rather Elaphe bimaculata.
Jim McLean

I did an extensive search on elaphe bimaculata....you're right! Thanks

A red backed/chinese garter/O. rufordorsata for sure.

Bimacs have striping occasionally, but BOLD striping!

Chinese garters have been known to eat pinkies right off the bat. My boyfriend's did.
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~Katt

OK, so which one is it???.....every pic of a red-backed I've seen has more of a pattern on the top of the head.....and I did find a pic of a bimaculata that looked IDENTICAL to mine.

It has more to do with morphology than color. Bimacs are very variable. Look in the gallery. I don't know which one, but there is a bimac with eggs that is the spitting image of that snake. Rufodorsata have eyes that are closer to the end of their snout and their heads are thicker and more flared in the temporal area. They also tend to have a less boxy rostral area than bimacs. I know that 15 or so years ago when both started coming into this country, they were often confused mostly due to pattern, but their heads are dead give-aways.
Jim