Question about a snake I found in my garage

[Pfluger]

Please tell me what kind of snake is this

[chairman]

Looks like a corn snake. It could be a similar colubrid like a rat snake, racer, or milk snake, but the pattern on the head looks a lot like a corn.

[ReptiWorldWide]

agreed, it is definitely something similar. I would think it is a rat snake of some kind, like a corn. Either way, it is harmless.

[kudzu]

To my novice eye, it looks like a Texas rat snake.

[chairman]

Could very well be a rat. I'm not good at differentiating them in pictures. To me, the easiest way to tell the difference between corns and rats is that the scales on a corn lay nice and flat, to the point where if you rub your hand up their body the scales stay in place. The Texas rats have looser scales that sort of lift up when you rub them against the grain.

[ReptiWorldWide]

Originally Posted by chairman

Could very well be a rat. I'm not good at differentiating them in pictures. To me, the easiest way to tell the difference between corns and rats is that the scales on a corn lay nice and flat, to the point where if you rub your hand up their body the scales stay in place. The Texas rats have looser scales that sort of lift up when you rub them against the grain.

This may have changed as my sources are outdated books, but aren't corns a species of rat snake?

[chairman]

Both corns and rats are colubrids. I believe that both used to belong to the genus Elaphe, but corn snakes were reclassified to the genus Pantherophis.

[ReptiWorldWide]

Originally Posted by chairman

Both corns and rats are colubrids. I believe that both used to belong to the genus Elaphe, but corn snakes were reclassified to the genus Pantherophis.

Ok, yes in the books I have that are from 10 or 15 years ago, they are classified as Elaphe. But looking online you are right that it has been reclassified. Thanks for the info.