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Black Ratsnakes

WestCoast_Redneck

WestCoast_Redneck

New member
I have a few questions about these beauties and I'm hoping I can get some advise/tips from anyone who owns/owned Black Ratsnakes before.

What are the sub-species of Black rats, and the difference in temperament? Which do you prefer?

I know they are known to be feistier than a corn, but others say they generally grow out of this with regular handling. What's your experience with this?

What traits do these snakes have that you enjoy? Hate? Is there a reason they are in your snake collection or not in your collection?

Pro's/Con's you can share?

Any help is greatly appreciated! I plan on owning one soon, in the meantime...Any stories of your black ratsnake, experiences you've had with them, stories from people who've owned them, horror stories, etc. I would LOVE to hear it! Cheers!
 
Black rats are all one subspecies (obsoleta). I like them, and frankly don't find adults to be any feistier than corns. Babies probably are on average, but most make great pets. They are pretty much exactly like corns but bigger, more alert, and less colorful! Hope that helps. I like 'em.
 
I don't really think there are any sub-species. I guess there are different locality animals, but I don't think there would be much of a difference. As for morphs, there's regular, rusty, leucistic, ablino, white-sided, white-sided, albino white-sided, hypo, and calico! I have a normal.

Mine is still a baby. When I first got him, he was a little bit nippy, but he was only a month old! Now, after having him for almost 6 months, he is a lot sweeter. The adults I handled were actually what got me into snakes in the first place--they were awesome! The adults were super laid-back, and sooo tolerant.

They are also more aware than corns, and will look at you in the face, in the eyes. My corns do not do this! It's an awesome experience.

My baby currently has an RI, and maybe impaction as well. He's going to the vet Tuesday :(. I've no idea how they happened, but I'm worried to death, and I love him.
 
There are morphs of black rat snake and then there are subspecies of american rat snake. I've heard that most are pretty good pets, with the possible exception of the texas rat snake which I hear is a bit nippy forever. I have a yellow and he's really sweet and inquisitive like previous posters said, if a little nervous when i move quickly.
 
Thanks so much you guys! I meant to say morphs, not subspecies, still getting a hang of proper terms.
Anerybree, I hope your lil guy heals quickly and everything works out!

The more I hear about them, the more excited I am to get one. I'm really into the jet black, I find it very classy and sleek. I also love they are larger than corns, but not chunky like some of the bigger snakes. Thanks for all the help!

Anyone have pics to share?
 
My favoritist snake of all, I LOVE black rats. They were the "big prize" to catch as a kid in MD :)

w/c MD male from eastern Washington County
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c/b het amel from Dwight Good in KY. Was a GREAT guy to talk about ratsnakes
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brpipies.jpg

brpipies001.jpg

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I would love to own a leucistic black rat snake someday. Well I'd really love to own a regular black rat snake too but can't in my state. Are there any other breeds of all black snakes?
 
Alicia P said:
I would love to own a leucistic black rat snake someday. Well I'd really love to own a regular black rat snake too but can't in my state. Are there any other breeds of all black snakes?
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Black milksnakes;, they start out as tri-banded babies that mature into an all black, pretty big snake :)
 
Another specie with a solid black morph is the melanistic eastern garter. Really sick looking snake. Im considering getting one this year.
 
Heck, black rat snakes are pretty darn nice animals. Used to catch them a LOT when I lived in Maryland, and you could usually pick up a fresh wild caught and they wouldn't even get riled up any.

My mother in law, who lives out in Delaware, used to complain about them all the time out in the barns and she said she killed them whenever she could. One day she asked me about the ones that had smoky blue eyes that she saw now and again, and I told her that those were the ghosts of the snakes she had previously killed. :rofl:

Hated to fib to her, but she never killed another one after that.

When I lived in Harford county with my parents, there was an old abandoned hunter's shack in back of the house on the other side of a stream. I used to hang around there a lot and there was a tree next to that shack that had at least a half dozen HUGE black rat snakes in the branches at certain times of the year. I used to stick my hand in the lower branches and make like a fluttering bird and they would come down to investigate. One day I went over there and found every one of them dead. Shot by some ^*&^@# a probably the day before. It was certainly like shooting fish in a barrel, as they had absolutely no fear of humans. Honestly, if I had seen whoever had done that, I would probably still be in prison today. I stopped going over there after that happened.
 
Dumb people killing snakes is probably why I rarely see them in my area anymore. I have northern water snakes in my pond. Last year there were soooo many babies. I was in heaven catching all those little baby snakes. My aunt who lives across the road from me would not let her grandchildren come over any longer because she believed them to be cottonmouths no matter how much I tried to tell her otherwise. When she started finding some in her own pond she had her husband go out with the weed eater and kill as many as he could find along the banks every day. I'm 26 years old and cried like a baby because of that. Having the water snakes around here last year was something new. Before we only had a few queen snakes. Then my aunt and uncle go about killing off the ones that finally decide to move in! Well at least the population in my pond is safe.

Anyway back to black rats. I used to catch them all the time as a kid and never was bitten by any of them. A couple years ago we had a really big female that would bask in our yard every morning. She was gravid the first time I caught her so I know it was a female. After catching her, the next morning she was in the exact same spot in my yard all stretched out. She hung around my house for a months. I'm betting she laid her eggs in the mulch in the flower beds because my mom likes to pile it thick lol. I also have chipmunks all over the place. So after laying her eggs I guess it was good eaten so she decided to hang around. It may not have been the same snake. But since it was always around the same place every morning I just figured that it was.

I would love to have a black rat if I had enough room. I would if I were not breeding kingsnakes. I never really wanted to breed but I have a popular boy and he's been on a couple breeding loans. Now I have the breeding bug and would like to try breeding him with a few other color morphs. So until I get a bigger house and more snake racks, I can't get anymore snakes. So for now it's just catching the local ones and admiring them a little before letting them go back to whatever they were doing.
 
she killed them whenever she could. One day she asked me about the ones that had smoky blue eyes that she saw now and again, and I told her that those were the ghosts of the snakes she had previously killed.

Hated to fib to her, but she never killed another one after that.
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I love it!! Oh man they are a beauty snake! I clearly have the addictive snake bug. Kids wanted one snake....and here I am, dying to own a black rat. Love the corn snake, but it's the kids snake and I need one of my own. Show them up a little ;)

I'm envious of the stories of catching snakes as kids. Garter snakes are the wild snake here (rattlers in eastern BC) but because they musk so much, we usually regretted catching them lol.
LOVE the pics too, thank you for sharing!! Im drooling...
 
Like chris68 these are my favorite snakes as well. They are more alert and "interactive" than Corn Snakes. They do need a larger enclosure as well as cooler temperatures than Corn Snakes.

Adults like to climb and if they do not have a large cage they are prone to nose-rubbing. Also they tend to go off feed in the Fall, so in many cases they need to be cooled for the Winter.

There's an "all purpose" general Rat Snake article in the current issue of "Reptiles" magazine that has an overview of species classifications and general care.

Here's one that I found last year:

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tspuckler said:
There's an "all purpose" general Rat Snake article in the current issue of "Reptiles" magazine that has an overview of species classifications and general care.
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Thank you! Oh man, everytime I look at them I get excited! Thanks again for the led on the Reptiles mag, definitely like what I hear about them!
 
I love my black rats! Very underrated snakes. I think the leucistic black rats are really one of the best snakes out there.
Corn snakes will always be my favorites, but good black rats are a very close second.
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Pulled this big guy out of my rat/mouse suppliers mouse house. He had about 5 mice in him that he caught as they ran by...escapees that got nailed. He was a calm fellow and never tried to bite. Called him Bueford and turned him loose in my feed room to keep the rodents out.
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anerybree said:
My baby currently has an RI, and maybe impaction as well. He's going to the vet Tuesday :(. I've no idea how they happened, but I'm worried to death, and I love him.
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Oh no. :(
I hope he gets better for you.
Btw..I don't remember if I told you but I now have the Mom to your baby. She is HUGE and almost solid black. I just now snapped a quick pic of her to show you. Not a good pic but you can see how black she is. She is a wild caught and by far the most nervous of all my snakes. She's the only one I have that will musk...and man does it ever stink. :laugh:
Big_Mama_Rat.jpg
 
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