Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in the Pacific Northwest, where no pet stores sell Black Rat snakes. I see very few online advertisements for non-albino, natural Black Rats. Thus, I can surmise that Black Rats in my area are probably wild-caught from another region.

I got a Black Rat rescue snake recently. HOWEVER, he is a sub adult of about 48 inches, at least 3 years old, and he is so brown that I’m tempted to name him Cocoa. Not black - brown. He still has some juvenile saddles patterns, but his tail is completely brown. In low light, he has an almost lavender sheen.
His eyes are very light amber brown, with black pupils. His belly becomes salmon orange near the tail. (The only salmon belly I’ve ever seen was on a Great Plains Rat snake.)

I wonder if: 1) He is a wild-caught specimen brought to my area when his former owner moved here. 2) He was caught in the western portion of their range where Blacks can intergrade with Great Plains snakes.

Have any of you seen Black x Emory intergrades? My online searches find no intergrade photos. If anyone has any field herping experience, or photos of intergrades, I welcome your replies.

It’s certainly possible that he is simply a very brown Black Rat snake. I’m just curious about the intergrade possibility.

1.0 Boa constrictor imperator (Hog Island)
1.0 Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus
1.0 Agrionemys horsfieldii kazakhstanica

(Below is a link to my Photobucket photos only.)
Link

First, there is no reason to think that he is cross with anything. There is no pattern of his head and very little pattern on his belly. He is just hypomelanistic. I have only come across one like it and that was outside Richmond Va. back in 1969.

There are other things to consider. Is he a Pantherophis alleghaniensis, or a Pantherophis spiloides. Black rats are found on both the East Coast, and west of the Alleghanies. To be sure, you would have to know where he was captured. It is a nice looking animal.

you can breed them together...but never saw one...

there are chocolate brown black rats...darker and lighter chocolate...

I had some ....George Miskimmons made a bunch...he bred a black he called copperhead to white sides...made a bunch of stuff...he made albinos that were yellow and oranges...called them sunrise and sunsets...brown snakes came out of these things a lot....

brown x brown = all brown...cool critters...the last one I had I gave to Nancy and Jack Witmer in Sunbury PA ...THICK male...really heavy and cool....

....good luck....try a pic if you can on here?...
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........JY