Tiger rat snake or red tail green ratsnake

[babyboa97]

Tiger rat 6ft-$100
Red tail green 4-6ft $85
Basically sums it up. Which should I get
I have some experience with a 9ft tiger rat
And a lot of snake keeping experience over all

[wrecker45]

If it was me. I would probably buy both of them.

[Jim Smith]

They are both beautiful snakes, but I think I'd go with the red tailed green rat snake. Very different and distinctive looking snake. Great prices on both of them so if you have the space, you might take wrecker45's advice and buy both of them.

Jim Smith

[Primal Rage]

They are both beautiful snakes, but I think I'd go with the red tailed green rat snake. Very different and distinctive looking snake. Great prices on both of them so if you have the space, you might take wrecker45's advice and buy both of them.

Jim Smith

I'm would like to second what Jim said. Who wouldn't want a massive green snake with a red tail? Both species are on the nippy side. Might as well get the better looking one.. Unless your favorite colors are black and yellow.. Sorry Pittsburg and Ga tech fans:)

[erichillkeast]

Flip a coin, heads is one snake tails is the other. Once you flip it you will start to hope it lands on a certain side. That's the one you pick :p

But in all seriousness, which do you like more?

[babyboa97]

My friend has a tame 9ft tiger rat that I've come to love. It doesn't matter if it have me the most painful bite I've had lmao. I like the green rat better for the color. How big do they top out at?

[Primal Rage]

My friend has a tame 9ft tiger rat that I've come to love. It doesn't matter if it have me the most painful bite I've had lmao. I like the green rat better for the color. How big do they top out at?

Females have been recorded up to 8ft. Holy crap! A tame 9ft tiger rat snake? I demand pics of you holding such a beast.:D J/K... But seriously I would love to see pics of the monster. How long has your buddy had him? WC or CBB?

[drumcrush]

The red tail green looks gorgeous!

[kwhitlock]

I have to say, they are both awesome snakes! I like the tiger, has a very cool and intimidating face. But something about that green red tail...WOW! It's a tough pick but I think I would go for the green red tail!

[SSSSnakes]

I've kept both and I like the Tiger Rat better. Thr dark black with yellow markings are awesome. Handling the snake is so cool, as the snake feels like it is filled with air, very light.

[babyboa97]

Females have been recorded up to 8ft. Holy crap! A tame 9ft tiger rat snake? I demand pics of you holding such a beast.:D J/K... But seriously I would love to see pics of the monster. How long has your buddy had him? WC or CBB?

I'll post some pics of that 9ft tiger when I get to go to his house again and take the pics lol
And it's wc he's had him about 7 months and it's been in the usa for about a year. And tame outside of the cage as can be. She's still cages defensive tho

[Roman]

Both are great snakes, if you have the means to keep them. I keep both of them. I currently keep 2,1 Spilotes pullatus (Tiger ratsnake) and 1,2 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (red tail green ratsnake). They don’t differ much in their basic needs, both need high temperatures and humidity and both like to climb.

So if you want to decide which one you want to keep, ask yourself how much space you are able to provide and how big you budget for future power expenses will be.

Spilotes and Gonyosoma are both large and active snakes. They will use all the space you can provide. In general, Spilotes will need a (much) larger enclosure as Gonyosoma. In my experience both species will be more active in larger enclosures, keeping them under minimum conditions will deprive you of a lot of fun watching the full range of their behavior.

- Spilotes will easily reach 10 ft (3 m) in length. Both of my males are currently about 2.8 m (>9 ft), my female is ca. 2.5 m (>8 ft) and they are still growing.
- Gonyosoma is reported to reach 2.4 m (8 ft), but I never had a snake longer than 1.8 m (6 ft.)

So a good enclosure size for Spilotes would be something about 7 x 3 x 5 ft (200 x 90 x 150 cm) (length x depth x height), whereas for Gonyosoma it would be 5 x 2 (3) x 5 ft (150 x 60 (90) x 150 cm).

Both need a lot of branches, some hiding places and you can provide life plants, which will help to maintain the humidity. Spilotes will sometimes stay on the ground, Gonyosoma will stay in the branches most of the time.

For both snakes I use only lamps for heating, UTH is useless for an enclosure of this height. For my large Spilotes enclosure I use a total of 210 W of lighting for 14 hours a day (so you can do the math about the amount of money you might need…).

Are the snakes you were offered wild caught or captive bread? I have no experience with WC, CB Spilotes are in easy to handle in most cases, in my experience Gonyosoma is more unpredictable and might try to bite you more often – on the other hand a bite from a large Spilotes hurts much more :)…

So if this is your first large arboreal Colubrid and you have the space I would suggest Gonyosoma, if you have even more space and more experience get Spilotes.



Please feel free to ask any question you might have...


Roman

[Primal Rage]

Both are great snakes, if you have the means to keep them. I keep both of them. I currently keep 2,1 Spilotes pullatus (Tiger ratsnake) and 1,2 Gonyosoma oxycephalum (red tail green ratsnake). They don’t differ much in their basic needs, both need high temperatures and humidity and both like to climb.

So if you want to decide which one you want to keep, ask yourself how much space you are able to provide and how big you budget for future power expenses will be.

Spilotes and Gonyosoma are both large and active snakes. They will use all the space you can provide. In general, Spilotes will need a (much) larger enclosure as Gonyosoma. In my experience both species will be more active in larger enclosures, keeping them under minimum conditions will deprive you of a lot of fun watching the full range of their behavior.

- Spilotes will easily reach 10 ft (3 m) in length. Both of my males are currently about 2.8 m (>9 ft), my female is ca. 2.5 m (>8 ft) and they are still growing.
- Gonyosoma is reported to reach 2.4 m (8 ft), but I never had a snake longer than 1.8 m (6 ft.)

So a good enclosure size for Spilotes would be something about 7 x 3 x 5 ft (200 x 90 x 150 cm) (length x depth x height), whereas for Gonyosoma it would be 5 x 2 (3) x 5 ft (150 x 60 (90) x 150 cm).

Both need a lot of branches, some hiding places and you can provide life plants, which will help to maintain the humidity. Spilotes will sometimes stay on the ground, Gonyosoma will stay in the branches most of the time.

For both snakes I use only lamps for heating, UTH is useless for an enclosure of this height. For my large Spilotes enclosure I use a total of 210 W of lighting for 14 hours a day (so you can do the math about the amount of money you might need…).

Are the snakes you were offered wild caught or captive bread? I have no experience with WC, CB Spilotes are in easy to handle in most cases, in my experience Gonyosoma is more unpredictable and might try to bite you more often – on the other hand a bite from a large Spilotes hurts much more :)…

So if this is your first large arboreal Colubrid and you have the space I would suggest Gonyosoma, if you have even more space and more experience get Spilotes.



Please feel free to ask any question you might have...


Roman
Very informative post!

[Primal Rage]

Not my 1st pick but check these guys!
For Sale Tiger Rat Snakes - FaunaClassifieds (http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=446762)

[Roman]

Not my 1st pick but check these guys!


I know Donnie and his wife from another forum as well as from some E-Mails we shared about keeping Spilotes. He has a great caresheet about Spilotes at his homepage and his snakes are just great. His new hatchlings are just a few month old. In my personal opinion he is a great source to get a CB Spilotes…

Some additional information…

Here is a detailed description about my Spilotes enclosure --> http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-colubrid-forum/95024-spilotes-pullatus.html

As a suggestion how you might set up an enclosure here are some current pictures of my Spilotes

The enclosure


http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy105/elaphe420/IMG_2135_zpsfaab8f7f.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy105/elaphe420/IMG_2127_zps62dfec08.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy105/elaphe420/IMG_2123_zps37b80af6.jpg

and my Spilotes

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy105/elaphe420/IMG_2188_zps19c3147b.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy105/elaphe420/IMG_2591_zps42117874.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy105/elaphe420/IMG_2611_zpse55fa013.jpg

http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy105/elaphe420/IMG_2610_zps0f9551d8.jpg


Roman

[smy_749]

Roman, your enclosure is exceptional. We can only dream for something similar hahaha I would go with the tiger as well.

[Roman]

Roman, your enclosure is exceptional. We can only dream for something similar hahaha I would go with the tiger as well.

Thanks smy... :)

Spilotes is my favorite snake, but I would not recommend it for someone who has no experience with any large Colubrids. It’s a huge difference between an ambush hunter like most small or medium sized boas or pythons and an active hunting Colubrid.

Both of my males are active for hours every day with the exception of maybe two or three days after feeding or a week before shedding. But they will show their behavior only if they have enough room. When I got my first male he was about 180 cm (6 ft) long. I had only my (then empty) Gonyosoma enclosure which was too small for him to keep him there for a longer period. I was planning my new enclosure at that time and the plan was to keep him for two or three month in that smaller enclosure until the new one would be finished. In the end it took 6 month to get the new enclosure, so I think I can assess the different behavior in the two enclosures.

The external conditions were the same, temperature, humidity, heating lamp, feeding schedule etc. were the same. In the smaller enclosure he was moving from the top branches sometimes to the ground and back again, but most of the time he would rest in the top of the enclosure. When he finally got to the larger enclosure he stayed hidden for a month, but then he was constantly moving around for hours and this behavior is still the same. So Spilotes will show his activity only if you can provide enough room.

The same is true for Gonyosoma, but here the room to inspire them is naturally smaller because the snake itself is smaller.

So if you have some experience with Colubrids it is a matter of available space, if not it might be better to start with Gonyosoma, they might be easier to handle as a large Spilotes.

Roman

[yoyo]

Roman that enclosure is out if this world.