Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have pondered owning one of these since the late 90's. Never gave it much thought until recently when one of my Cal Kings passed in 2011 but the thing is, I have only seen one ad on New World Ratsnakes in classifieds for Baja ratsnakes and after a day later, the aforementioned ad was gone. I find this species attractive and would love to have one so does anyone here know from personal experience how their care is compared to that of other rat snakes and any info on their availability? Thanks in advance.

I knew a guy that had a few about 12 years ago. I went to check out his collection and when I asked him about their care, he said basically identical to trans-pecos ratsnakes.

no clue why they arent bred in larger numbers though. I think they are nice looking animals.
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1.1 Argentine Boas
1.1 Dumerils Boas
1.1 Black Milk Snakes
2.3 California King Snakes
1.1 Nelsons Milk Snakes
2.2 Corn Snakes

Sweet!! And yes they are beautiful animals. Hopefully there will be some available soon. All the Repticon shows I have been to have never had any and most persons I spoke to never heard of them. Please let me know if you hear of any neonates for sale.

Keep your eye open, they show up for sale every now and then. Hardcore herps and Tim Turmezi have bred them and might still, check with them.
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Nick Puder
www.rnpreptiles.com

I have heard that they are not easily bred sometimes (if following the recipe method), and that they are prone to problems due to their stressful nature - certainly true for wild-caughts, which are not legal to bring in. They can be flighty. They get "depressed" with too much humidity for too long.

So, a number of folks wanted them back in the day, not many were brought in (not real easy to find in the wild unless you know their habits, some folks did figure it out), and even less were successfully maintained and bred. So not very common, ever really.

The above is what I have been told anyway.

I think they are stunning animals in person. But due to a real lack of knowledge about their habits and preferences, most people might not do well keeping them. IMO.

Point well taken. Tis a pity since they strike me as very remarkable animals.
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Hopefully they more knowledge about their care/breeding will surface and subsequently make them a regular in the herp industry (and with new morphs to boot).

people that breed them live in a state where they cannot sell them...so they have to give them to friends ? I think

people who breed them have waiting lists

they sell really really fast

they do not breed like black ratsnakes (easy)

they are late to hatch also....start looking about now actually...they are out there....just really hard to get....

good luck....do the reading first on them....after finally getting them...people would and should be able to keep them alive , healthy and happy...
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........JY

Here is a field photo of one from Bahia De Concepcion, BCS.MX from back in '07

They show up in numbers if you hit it on the right conditions.

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Oh well...One can hope that these become more available and with some morphs available.