Reptile & Amphibian Forums

a buddy brought this over for me to probe and we both were wondering if anyone recognized the face structure and could hopefully ID what he has, as far as we know albino rat snake but thats like saying you have a albino python. we want to get a little closer to the truth, problem is what little marking it had were so faint even the camera would not pick up on them, all we have to go on is the large snout

sorry in advance for poor pictures she was not wanting to hold still, she was about to shed also.

Yes, I saw your post on the "ratsnake" forum, but it is virtually impossible to discern exacty what type it is from those particular blurred and orange-hued photos. Can you take some high quality camera full-body pics from above that really depict any pattern it might have, and especially it's true coloration. This would help immensely, but there is still a chance it can't accurately be ID'ed to the exact subspecific level, as there are many ratsnake crosses in todays hobby. Also several of the North American ratsnakes basically have the same scalation meristics, so when the snake is lacking much of a pattern and coloration, the identification gets extremely tough as well.

I can tell you that it is an amelanistic North American Ratsnake(obsoletus) of some sort(or even possibly a subspecies cross combination), but as to EXACTLY which subspecies or combination thereof is very hard to say from those pics alone, and even good pics for that matter. But better photo's would make a far better chance for any accurate identification no matter what.

cheers, ~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Ill see if he can bring her back over this afternoon, hes coming back today after 2 of my baby corn snakes

again sorry for the poor quality pictures. it is too cold here to take her outside and my phone shows alot of orange wash with incandescent light

Yes, the orange wash from the incandescent lighting does make the colors off, but now that I see the entire pattern of the snake, it looks to be a "Bubblegum" ratsnake. They were first developed by Bill Love way back around 1990. They are an amel form of Yellow rat x Black rat x Everglades rat. They can be extremely variable as well, and range from almost a solid pink with little pattern, to very light pink with very noticeable pattern(or very little), vivid orange/pink, and any combination thereof.

Here is just one example from Bill Love's old school line of bubblegum rats. If you do a google "image search", you will see what I mean about their variation. I have seen lots of these over the years, and I knew several people that used to breed them.

Good luck with it!

~Doug

-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties

Ok thanks for the info. I will forward it to the owner

Doug: Guys like you are what make this such a great site. Not only were you able to answer the man's question, you also managed to use the word meristics. Impressive!

~~Greg~~

Thanks for the kind words Greg, it is greatly appreciated buddy!

You and several other's here also know their way around the "serpent world" big-time as well, and are extremely knowledgeable folks that have helped ID countless snakes in the past, as well as helping out with alot of other useful information. So hat's off to you guys too!..

Boy, I know what ya mean about the term "meristics". Most folks in this hobby(even many old-school, large-scale breeders) that have been in it for countless years have no clue what meristics are at all, let alone can apply any of it to accurately identify anything..LOL!

cheers!, ~Doug
-----
"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

my website -Serpentine Specialties