Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,

I don't typically do a whole lot with Ratsnakes. However, about 2 months ago I rescued this Yellow x Black rat snake. He is meaner than snot! I know Black rats can be a bit nippy when first encountered and what not but will usually calm down with a little handling. I am assuming that it's level of defensiveness comes from it's yellow rat half? Does anybody happen to have a ratsnake that is crossed with these two types of specimens? If so, how do they act towards you?

Thanks,

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

The "greenish" ratsnake is a natural intergrade between the black & yellow rat. My greenish is an albino, so it is captive bred. It is about the same as all my other north american ratsnakes...Which is to say it is very easily handled. These snakes (the N. AM Rats) do show a fair amount of individual differences in their tempermant, ranging from "dog tame" to "mean as hell" and just about everything in between. MOST of them, however, if aquired as juveniles and properly handled, eventually calm down quite nicely. If you have one that was seldom handled, or even worse only saw the cage lid open when food was on its way...Well, that's a different story. Duffy

I actually got mine as a rescue, so I am not quite sure. I know he was a little thin for my taste, but I know the previous owner told me he bit quite readily as well. Thanks for the info!

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

Ha, that sounds like mine. All my black rats are quite lovely, but my greenish is pretty damn evil. He's had health problems that required me to medicate him, and what started out as a mean snake is now quite evil. My friends handle him only with a face shield, gloves and a hook if I've remembered to leave it for them. I find mine is more territorial than anything else... just get him out of his cage into a pillowcase, leave him in there for a few minutes, and then he's less bitey.

Yep! Thats mine alright. He bites repeatedly and readily. How big is yours? Do you happen to have pics? I got mine as a rescue and luckily he didn' t have any health problems. He was a little skinny though, but ok. He's growing a lot better now.
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

Mine was also little when I got him, probably about 2 1/2 feet long and skinny. It breaks my friend's heart, as she really liked him but he never ate well for her, so I got him out of her frustration and he is an eating machine for me. Go figure. He's now just over 5 feet long and quite muscular. Lots of yellow/orange/brown colouration, definately not a typical olive-coloured greenish.
For some reason, he is our exotic vet's favourite of all my snakes. He's much better behaved when I bring him to school than he is at home (mine seems to have some sort of hypersensitivity, but we can't really figure out what a snake is allergic to as it's very sporadic - about a year and a half pass between outbreaks)