Rat Snakes

wow.. its been awhile since i have posted on here. but once again advice is needed. i want to expand my collection. lol.

ive been trying to do some research, and i keep running into walls. or not finding what i was looking for. ive kinda narrowed it down to two rat snakes.

this seems to have many different names, but a Broad Banded Mountain Ratsnake (Oreocryptophis Porphyraceus Lacticinctus) or an Amur Ratsnake (korean? Elaphe Anomala) seems like everyone has different terms for them, but i wanted the yellow, so i saw amelanistic, blonde?

i found one price for the Broad Banded Mountain at $1000, which i was dissappointed, but then i looked at there Mandarin Ratsnakes, and they wanted 750 for one, and a friend of mine just picked one up for 40.. so im hoping someone on the board could maybe shed some light or help me in this situation!

thanks in advance

You have expensive taste. If I were you I would look for an albino korean ratsnake. They're all yellow and have a neat pattern. They pop up on Kingsnake.com classifieds once in awhile.

The difference between a $750 mnandarin and a $40 one is probably whether it's captive bred or wild caught. From what I hear, the wild caught ones have a hard time adjusting to captivity.

Or you could just wait. Just a couple of years ago it was hard to find a Woma python for under $1000. I saw one for $350 at the last reptile show.

Yeah, you do have expensive taste there.
There are a lot of fantastic rats out there you just got to look around.
I own a few rats here. and recommend these, http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69446 Leucistic Texas Rat, Baird Rat.
I personally like Fox snakes but they are not for every one.

As for the Black rats, you can find them in White Sided which will give a white bodied adult with a broad black stripe down its back.

And for the Bairds, I love their Gun Metal gray body with orange between the scales. I have a hypo looking male and a normal female.

Obviously these are all typically drab looking snakes when compared to the Mandarin and other Asian rats but these are pretty easy to get a hold of and are cheaper. And typically they do not give any feeding problems like the Asian's can.

But if you want to get yourself some really nice Rats that are from Asia. I recommend the Trinket, widely found as well as Beauties as well. I own a Trinket but he isnt an aggressive eater like my others here. But he is a great snake non the less.

If you like the Asian rat snakes, might I recommend the Taiwan Beauty? I have one and absolutely adore her. My other rat snake is a Japanese (or Kunisar Island) rat snake. He's just a big sweetie.

thanks guys. i guess ill keep looking. lol, but it was just weird are all mandarins expensive? i just thought the site that i had seen was way over priced. at least thats what i was hoping. lol.

and i did like some of the white sided ratsnakes i saw so i might look into those. thanks again.

ok.. well i think i want a leucistic? correct me if im wrong. ive heard of leucistic texas rats. but also that they are nasty. so i was wondering if anyone knew of such a thing as a leucistic black rat?

tstephe3 said:

ok.. well i think i want a leucistic? correct me if im wrong. ive heard of leucistic texas rats. but also that they are nasty. so i was wondering if anyone knew of such a thing as a leucistic black rat?

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Does this Leucistic Texas Rat look like its being aggressive and attacking me?


Its with any snake, you get some aggressive ones and docile ones. When the start to appear aggressive just keep on handling them. All aggressive snakes mellow out with proper handling, unless they are a miffed off king and well thats another story. lol

haha good point. but with school and work and my other hobbies sometimes i dont have the time to work with an aggressive snake. all mine are awesome and dont seem to mind the 3 day periods where i dont get to handle them. i did do some research and they actually do have leucistic black rats.

good question for you.. since u have a texas rat, would u recommend a leucistic black or texas?

tstephe3 said:

haha good point. but with school and work and my other hobbies sometimes i dont have the time to work with an aggressive snake. all mine are awesome and dont seem to mind the 3 day periods where i dont get to handle them. i did do some research and they actually do have leucistic black rats.

good question for you.. since u have a texas rat, would u recommend a leucistic black or texas?

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Either or is fine. I own a black Black Rat as well and personalities are about the same. Each animal is their own, so you can get one that is mellow or aggressive.