New Offical Rat Snake Owner!

[Brewster320]

I know technically corn snakes are rat snakes but today I got my first offical "True" ratsnake! Today I was at a very small expo at a wild life center and I was only planning on grabbing some supplys but I ended up getting drawn to these little rat snakes a vendor was selling. He had all 2008's and one of their parents(to show how some will look). They were American rat snake intergrades(Black X Yellow X Grey), and were 5th generation from a certain locale. The adult was very mellow! More laid back then most corns I've held and was pretty big to, in the 6ft range. Even the 08's for ale were pretty mellow compared to young corns. I ended up getting this little male who I think has a greenish rat snake look to him. Hes 34grams and 18.5" long. he is also het. balck rat albino and the vendor showed me one of his albino siblings that he was actually holding back. Although because it has albino genetics in it I'm guessing he bred an albino black rat into the line some where down the line. Would this make it not a true intergrade now or is it still an intergrade and can be labled as so? Thanks for the help. Enjoy!

 

[tricksterpup]

Nope you got a mutt, thats the best way of describing this snake.

They were American rat snake intergrades(Black X Yellow X Grey), and were 5th generation from a certain locale.

I dont think so.. This is not an intergrade at all.. or not a natural one. I think this breeder was trying to sell you something special that wasn't. Its a nice looking snake but crosses are pretty frowned on in the Ratsnake world. Most keepers prefer pure strain rats, such as Greys, yellows, blacks.. just look around at threads with pure strains.

 

[Nanci]

Well, he's cute, anyway! I love ratsnake faces.

 

[Brewster320]

Nope you got a mutt, thats the best way of describing this snake.



I dont think so.. This is not an intergrade at all.. or not a natural one. I think this breeder was trying to sell you something special that wasn't. Its a nice looking snake but intergrades are pretty frowned on in the Ratsnake world. Most keepers prefer pure strain rats, such as Greys, yellows, blacks.. just look around at threads with pure strains.

How would you know its not an intergrade at all natural or not? Not to argue with you but thats like me taking a true greenish rat snake and you say its not an intergrade at all. Either way it doesn't bother me, black rats are among my favorite snakes but you can't own them in MA with out a permit because they are endangered here so this little guy is about as close as I could legally get so that nice. Plus I don't have a problem with hybrids so it doesn't both me about things being pure or not.

 

[Brewster320]

Unless your including it possibly being bred back to a black rat some where down the line.

 

[tricksterpup]

How would you know its not an intergrade at all natural or not? Not to argue with you but thats like me taking a true greenish rat snake and you say its not an intergrade at all. Either way it doesn't bother me, black rats are among my favorite snakes but you can't own them in MA with out a permit because they are endangered here so this little guy is about as close as I could legally get so that nice. Plus I don't have a problem with hybrids so it doesn't both me about things being pure or not.

I am pretty sure it wasn't wild caught and if it was, he wouldnt know the exact mix, unless he crossed it out himself. If its any thing it may be grey rat mix with yellow. If he was selling mixes with Black rats, he still may be questioned for selling those.

Grey Rat.

Black Rat.

 

[Michael823]

I think it's a really cool snake, regardless of what the "Rat Snake world" thinks. It looks healthy, I'm sure you'll care for it well, and you love it, so congrats!

 

[Brewster320]

I am pretty sure it wasn't wild caught and if it was, he wouldnt know the exact mix, unless he crossed it out himself. If its any thing it may be grey rat mix with yellow. If he was selling mixes with Black rats, he still may be questioned for selling those.

Your right it isn't wild caught. Its 5th generation captive bred snake decended from snakes from an area where the black rat's, yellow rat's, and grey rat's ranges overlap and they interbreed. Also the flash makes it look lighter than it really is, also the parent that was there looked more black rat snake then this one. I have no question about which animals are in its genetics or if it really is an intergrade, I'm just asking if you bred and intergraded animal back to a pure one if the offpring are still considered an intergrade?

 

[Brewster320]

I think it's a really cool snake, regardless of what the "Rat Snake world" thinks. It looks healthy, I'm sure you'll care for it well, and you love it, so congrats!

Thanks! Ya I could really care less about what it is or what other people think about it. I think its a really neat little snake and so far has show a lot of peronality. After handling and eeing it's parent i can't wait to see how hes grows and changes.

 

[tricksterpup]

I have no question about which animals are in its genetics or if it really is an intergrade, I'm just asking if you bred and intergraded animal back to a pure one if the offpring are still considered an intergrade?

The answer is yes, its still a cross breed.

 

[Brewster320]

For now I think I'm just going to consider him a Black X Yellow X Grey intergrade bred back into black rat lines. Although I guess it could be possible for them to carry the albino genes in the wild but I think that'd be unlikely for a population of 3 way intergrades some where in a small area in Northern Florida, only place I believe where the 3 subspecies meet, that are all natural albinos or carry the genes for it to get unnoticed in the hobby without making much of a buzz in the hobby.

The whole intergrade thing confuses me so much. I always considered it when two or more subspecies interbred over a period of time creating a population of animals with qualities of both subspecies. I figured its possible for one of these crosses in the wild to meet up with a pure animal and breed. So breeding it back to one of the pure subspecies in a captive stituation would still make these intergrades. I guess thats wrong though haha!

I don't plan on breeidng him back into pure lines anyways though or possibly even breeding him at all. If I did breed him though most likely It would be to my female jungle corn, I think those could possibly thow out some odd looking offspring. He's only an 08 though so its a lot of time to figure things out.