Need advice

babyboa97 · 06-27-13, 06:25 PM

So I currently have pythons and boas but I remember when I used to have a corn snake when I was five. I remembered how amazing it was. I've gotten an itch for a colubrid lately and I want to buy a rat snake. I want a larger rat snake that is not as nice as a corn. Something that puts you on your toes. I was thinking of a Chinese king rat snake. Can I get some advice please.
Thanks

smy_749 · 06-27-13, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babyboa97

So I currently have pythons and boas but I remember when I used to have a corn snake when I was five. I remembered how amazing it was. I've gotten an itch for a colubrid lately and I want to buy a rat snake. I want a larger rat snake that is not as nice as a corn. Something that puts you on your toes. I was thinking of a Chinese king rat snake. Can I get some advice please.
Thanks

Red tail rats will put you on your toes for sure.

Amadeus · 06-27-13, 07:48 PM

Bull snakes, Pine snakes Texas rat snakes.

Mikoh4792 · 06-27-13, 08:06 PM

Tiger rat snakes

smy_749 · 06-27-13, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikoh4792

Tiger rat snakes

These are beautiful, if you can find a healthy one get this.

babyboa97 · 06-27-13, 08:23 PM

I've never seen them for sale. My friend has an 8 footer and its beautiful. How much do the go for

**lady_bug87** · 06-28-13, 11:16 AM

I have a bull snake. She's pissy and we mostly hate each other but she's OK.. I'll stick to Amazons.

Concept9 · 06-28-13, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lady_bug87

I have a bull snake. She's pissy and we mostly hate each other but she's OK.. I'll stick to Amazons.

Aren't Amazons miniature face eaters ?

**lady_bug87** · 06-28-13, 12:01 PM

My male is. It remains to be seen how my female will be she's still little

possum · 06-28-13, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babyboa97

.... I want a larger rat snake that is not as nice as a corn. Something that puts you on your toes...Thanks

Taiwan Beauty ratsnakes come to mind. I'm actually a fan of ALL the American ratsnakes (Everglades/yellow/black/grey/Bairds/TransPecos) but most of those tame quite well. Russian ratsnakes have the reputation of being great pets (I've never kept them, just reiterating what I've read & heard from others) but a similar species that I do keep is the Korean ratsnakes...and they are NOT so easy! Shy/flighty/racer-like...in short, a challenge! (a little hard to find c/b available, but they're out there) Oh, & how about a Texas ratsnake? LOL! they have a 'reputation' let's just say.

Roman · 07-04-13, 04:47 PM

Excellent suggestions so far

I have no personal experience with the Russian ratsnake (Elaphe schrenckii) or with Bullsnakes / Gophersnakes (Pituophis sp.), but what I read about them they are easy to keep and especially the Russian ratsanke has a mild temper and will not try to bite you as soon as you open the door. Both need a hibernation period, the ratsanke needs at least 3 – 4 month (I read a suggestion of 5 month in a book).

My Taiwan Beauty snake (Orthriophis taeniurus friesei) is also easy to keep, but it needs some room and likes to climb. My snake is quite old (at least 20 years, I have it since 1995) and for an Orthriophis it is easy to handle, most of the times I can do my maintenance without being bitten – but sometimes he gets his moods and is really aggressive and with a fast moving snake of about 8 ft (2,4 m) this is not funny, if he gets you it hurts and bleeds…

My three CB Tiger ratsnakes (Spilotes pullatus) need more effort to keep them. With the right enclosure and equipment keeping them is not a big problem, but I paid an amount of money for my enclosure others would buy a used car for…

My experience with them shows that a larger enclosure leads to more active snakes. When I kept my first male in a much smaller enclosure before I got my current one he was more or less resting on some branches, but in the large enclosure all three of them are very active and are sometimes moving for hours. To give you an impression my enclosure is 2,5 m x 0,9 m x 1,9 m (ca. 8 ft x 3 ft x 6 ft).

Roman