Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm out of town working but wanted to share a pic my wife sent me (sorry for the quality). Our clutch of Scaleless Texas Ratsnakes hatched out late last week. I believe she said 14 out of 14 eggs hatched. This is our 2nd year producing them. Unlike alot of the rumors you hear, they eat fine, move fine, shed fine and act like any other Texas Ratsnake. You do need to feed f/t or pre killed mice/rats to them since they don't have scales to protect from rodent bites. I provide a moist hide for shedding (but I do that with all my colubrids). I have had them shed fine in racks without the moist hide. Whenever we display them at herp shows, we are always overran with curious folks- amazing how many people didn't realize they existed.

In 2011 we donated a baby to a Nature Center. I thought it'd be a cool educational animal for them to bring to schools, use in talks, etc. The skin feels very velvety- really cool. They told me the snake is a huge hit with everyone that sees it.

I understand some people just plain "don't like them"... I respect their opinion...heck, they aren't for everyone...but if you have a chance to see one in person (and hopefully the breeder/seller will let you hold it), give it a fair chance...they kinda grow on ya!

enjoy.

Graham

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Here's a few more pics of a couple of a subadult and a pic of last year's babies hatching!

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Graham,

These guys look GREAT! I certainly have a soft spot in my heart for them! I can't wait until the scaleless gene is worked into the other genes in texas rats!

Kyle
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Kyle R. Mara

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

http://scaledvertebrates.weebly.com/

i'm picturing a 6-7' long leucistic scaleless TX rat. it would be incredible.

i'm sure some lunatic cult somewhere would worship it as a god. lol

can you tell if there is any rhyme or reason to why some seem like they are only 70% scaleless and some are more like 95%?

also, are the scales over their eyes still in place? have you ever seen any without this scale? i would think if the eye scale is missing it could make for a difficult life (unable to burrow/ scratched on everything).

they are pretty awesome looking though.

Thanks! Yes, they still have eye caps, all have belly scales (but there seems to alweays be a slipt down the center of them), and varying degrees of random scales.

I have never seen or heard of one without eye cap scales.

I'm not sure why some have partial scales and others have almost any. I had thought maybe the partially scaled ones were produced from het X het breedings and the all scaleless ones from scaleless x scaleless breeding BUT this didn't play out. I have bred Scaleless x Scaleless for the past two years- most babies come out looking pretty scaled but with age & growth they look better...

Hope that helps.

Graham
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Good Job with those Graham. They look great. My Texas rat hatchlings are a few weeks off yet. I am excited to see those little heads poking out of the eggs.

Allen Sheehan

I know I know... our side double het projects will be spectacular!
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That's a beautiful Texas Rat Allen. Hypo? I have a big six foot plus wc male that I just can't seem to turn loose. They don't do much for most people, but some of the really large or brightly colored specimens are pretty impressive to me.

I'm sure what to think of the scaleless gene Graham, but like you said, I'll keep an open mind and maybe seeing one in person will sway me. Congrats to both of you!
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Matt Kauffman

Matt,
I am not yet sure what is going on with the Texas rat pictured. I bought him as a "high orange" wildcaught but to me the black on him is very reduced and light. I had a female that looked similar to him but she passed away soon after I aquired her. I am raising a few of his offspring that I will breed back to him in a few years. I will know then if he is genetic or just a light colored normal animal.

I love Texas rats. They get a bad wrap from a lot of people about being mean however most captive bred stuff is very tame and manageable. I do also have a few wild caught adults that would just assume I feed them and get the heck out of there way or they will bite. However even the mean ones calm down after some time.

As for the scaleless thay are simply awesome as adults. They color up so well as adults and are just as easy to keep and maintain as a normal Texas rat. Everyone needs a pair of them. Then again I am a sucker for texas rats so it doesnt take much for me to fall in love with one.

Allen Sheehan

ABSOLUTELY Allen!

I could not agree more with what you said about Texas rats getting a bad rap. Sure, I have some that will rattle and whip and fake strike but very few that actually just try to bite and chew! I have kingsnakes that WILL do that!

As you know, I cannot wait for some of these combo gene snakes to finally start coming together.
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Kyle R. Mara

Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

http://scaledvertebrates.weebly.com/

I remember seeing that pic before, anery? That's a cool snake. Do you still have it?
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Matt Kauffman

The animal pictured in the last post is what I am calling a Paradox Anery. She does very much look like an Anery at first glance but when you look at her in person you can see faded patches of color along her body. She did breed for me last year and I am raising up babies to see if she is genetic. She also dropped a perfect clutch of eggs this year after not being with a male since last spring which was a first for me. The Picture below is of a true Anery Texas rat with no color at all. In person you can easily make out the difference.

Allen Sheehan