Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello again,
I was just curious if there were different breeders that breed to make pet quality snakes or are they all trying to come up with prettier snakes? Also what is the main difference between rat snakes and corn snakes? Which is more docile? Which are more recommended as pets?
Thanks
Bizzy

Most breeders are producing corn snakes to supply to the pet trade. There are a few "investment quality" breeders producing new morphs, but the vast majority of corns sell for $25-$35, making them pet store snakes.

Corn snakes in general have better dispositions than rat snakes. That is not to say rat snakes aren't very interesting (perhaps they are more interesting than corn snakes when it comes to their alertness and climbing behavior), but if you'd like a pet snake that you can handle on a regular basis with worrying about getting bitten, a corn snake is the way to go.

Tim

Third Eye

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The best quote on the subject I have ever heard on the subject is, "Owning a rat snake is like owning a copperhead but without the antivenom!" Although this isn't true about all rat snakes it could be more or less a rule of thumb. A corn snake (for the most part) is prone to wrap around your arm and explore you.... A rat snake is more prone to run like it's tail is on fire. Of course this is not in any way true of every snake. you may find a rat snake that could charm a baby bird out of the nest..(and then eat it ) and you may find a corn that is hell on earth. Every breed has its own extremes but all follow a general disposition. So if its your first snake then definately go with the corn! You can have a rat next, and trust me you will own many snakes

Just curious...Paul

they are just one of many different kinds of rat snakes. Kind of like a labrador is a dog, but not all dogs are labs.
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phflame

>they are just one of many different kinds of rat snakes. Kind
>of like a labrador is a dog, but not all dogs are labs.
>-----
>phflame

Only more like a corn snake = a chocolate lab and a grey rat = a yellow lab and a glades rat = (some other kind of lab .

Rats are all in the Pantherophis family. A corn is Pantherophis Guttata. Most rats are Pantherophis Obsoleta Something, where something is Obsoleta for the black rat (typically very tame), Spiloides for the grey rat (a little hyper), so on and so on.

There are other "rat snakes" that still have the Elaphe name instead of Pantherophis. Those are the European and Asian ratsnakes. The families were deemed to be separate within the past year or 2.
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