i need help!

ilovemysnake · 11-27-13, 07:27 PM

ok so i have a baby black rat snake who i absolutely adore. next week my fiance and i are thinking about getting a leucistic texas rat snake.
what i want to know.

1. humidity level.
2. temp.
3. 20 gallon good?
3. can they breed?
4. temperment.
5. how big will he get?
6. is he gonna be ok without substrate? i have a green liner thats easy to lean.
7. how do i introduce my snakes?
8. know any care sheets for them?
9. what exactly is "bug eyed"

Primal Rage · 11-30-13, 06:34 AM

I would suggest doing some research on each species that you plan on keeping BEFORE you buy them. Your questions are pretty basic and you should be able to answer most them prior to having said animals. That being said, I will try to answer some of them for you.
1)30-60
2)cool side low 70's, warm side mid to high 80's
3)yes, with plenty of hiding areas. Small and large(coconut hides/ cork bark)
4)possible but not probable
5)both species can get into the 4-5ft range.sometimes bigger!
6)green liner is crap, buy some aspen(cheap) or reptibark(not cheap)
7) play date at the park, duh.. Put them toghther and watch them closely.if one is picking on the other separate them and buy a different enclosure. Rat snakes cohabitate fairly well.
8)um, ever heard of google? Look for a rat snake "breeder" who has a website.
9) have you ever seen a pic of a leucistic trans pecos rat snake? The pics speak for themselves.
Good luck! And read, read, read!!!!

TheFrogman · 11-30-13, 06:58 AM

^^^^^ There ta go, sounds like your already in great hands, of course we want to see pictures of him/her.

Levittown Pa ? I was born there. Anyway....welcome.

Starbuck · 11-30-13, 07:32 AM

as a general rule, cohabiting snakes is not recommended. They will be competing with now another for hides, food, temperature gradients, etc. if they are coiled up together, it is not because they 'like' it, its because they both are seeking the same microclimate.
You could probably use a 20 gallon to start with, but that will not be sufficient for the adult; you may as well buy the adult enclosure now and let the baby snake grow up in it, rather than cycle through several cages as it grows.

I would also not recommend the reptile carpet. Aspen is ridiculously cheap if you buy it in bulk from a TSC or farm supply store, just make sure you are buying PURE aspen, not a blend of pine, NEVER cedar, and no walnut shells or anything like that. If you really don't want to deal with the aspen or mulch, you can use newspaper (also easy to clean, and free!), paper towels, butcher paper, etc.

as i mentioned earlier, you don't introduce them. If you would like to try to breed them (idk if they can, but i assume so?) you wait until they are both well established, older adults (over 3 years in most species) and you do so carefully and after lots of preparation, and you monitor them closely while they are together.

StudentoReptile · 11-30-13, 07:46 AM

1. 40-60%
2. 75'F ambient with 82-85'F warm area
3. Personally, I suggest a lot of space for most rat snakes since they are active and arboreal. I'd go with a 55 gal for each snake separately.
3. In theory, yes, every animal comes with the hardware. And yes, Black rat snakes and Texas rat snakes are sub species of each other, so the cross would be an intergrade, which does naturally occur sometimes in the wild.
4. Babies can be snippy, but they can mellow. No different than most American ratsnakes
5. 5-6 ft. which is why I suggest at least a 4-ft cage (55 gal)
6. I hate cage liners. Snakes ALWAYS get underneath them and poop on the glass, making the liner useless. Use bedding. I suggest cypress, aspen, or bark.
7. I would not let them co-habitate year-round. If your goal is to breed them, I'll let those more experienced than myself give advice on that.
8. I'm sure there's several all over the web, and each one with conflicting info from the last.
9. It is a genetic defect attached the same trait that gives them leucism. Not every leucistic TX rat snake has it, and some have it worse than others. Basically makes the eyes bulge out. It really does not impede the animal in any way as far as I know, but it can make them look odd or funny, which is one reason many people do not like them, and/or genetic mutations in general.