King Rat or Keeled Rat, anyone?

eminart · 04-19-16, 12:55 PM

Elaphe carinata or Ptyas carinatus to be more specific.

Has anyone here ever kept either? I love the big colubrids. These are two that I'd be very interested in keeping in the future. With my indigo taking up a large portion of my "reptile room", I don't currently have room for anything else that requires a lot of space. But, someday I will. I want a HUGE colubrid. Unfortunately, I don't think my indigo is going to reach record size. Hopefully, he'll get up over 7' eventually though. But, a large display with a 12' P. carinatus would be awesome.

Anyway, just wondered if anybody here had any experience with them.

Sylphie · 04-19-16, 01:48 PM

I don't have personal experience with Elaphe carinata, but I thought about them once too. I talked with a few owners of them and even hold one, but to be honest their personalities aren't for me. These are rather aggressive snakes, and their musk is really, really bad (according to the owners I talked with). It's so bad that you practically need to throw your clothes, as washing them has little to no effects.
But like I said, it's not my personal experience, just what I heard

eminart · 04-19-16, 02:02 PM

They don't call them "Stinking Goddesses" for nothing. LOL. I wonder if it is really that bad? I'm leaning more toward the P. carinatus anyway, but I do prefer the colors of the E. carinata.

Sylphie · 04-19-16, 02:13 PM

Hahaha, I can't tell you for sure how bad it is, but I heard really scary stories about it. And adding the aggressive nature I just decided it's too much for me

But yes, the colors are really nice!

zactay22 · 04-19-16, 02:53 PM

The keeled rat is a very cool snake. DMexotics works with them. He just released a cool video about the less common snakes in the trade. Been watching his videos for awhile now. The travel ones are interesting. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wp9KhBN4y4Y

IW17 · 04-19-16, 04:28 PM

Stinking goddess is a very appropriate nickname. You immediately smell their distinct odor the second you open the cage. And they smell as well. Mine isn't prone to biting, but is very flighty. Almost never stops moving. And mine is rarely out and about. Which is the one reason I've considered selling her. Flighty, bitey, smelly, etc I can deal with. But she's pretty much like having an expensive enclosure with nothing in it. That being said, she is a beautiful snake.

eminart · 04-19-16, 07:35 PM

Zactay, I've been following DM exotics on YouTube for a couple of years. That latest video is what got me thinking about them again. I agree, his videos are interesting. I like oddball stuff and he's one of the few that keeps "different" snakes.

IW17, that's a bummer. Maybe the P. carinatus is more visible? I think they're largely arboreal, and, in my mind, would make a cool display snake.

**Aaron_S** · 04-20-16, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eminart

Zactay, I've been following DM exotics on YouTube for a couple of years. That latest video is what got me thinking about them again. I agree, his videos are interesting. I like oddball stuff and he's one of the few that keeps "different" snakes.

IW17, that's a bummer. Maybe the P. carinatus is more visible? I think they're largely arboreal, and, in my mind, would make a cool display snake.

If you haven't already, maybe consider tiger rat snakes. Arboreal and large colubrids. Tend to be a little more slender than I think the king rats but still large.

I'm unsure of the latin name, but what about cave dwelling ratsnakes as well?

Sylphie · 04-20-16, 08:02 AM

I second tiger rat snakes! As for cave dwelling (Orthriophis taeniurus ridleyi) they are long, right, but rather slender, so won't be as impressive in my opinion (although they are super pretty!).

eminart · 04-20-16, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

If you haven't already, maybe consider tiger rat snakes. Arboreal and large colubrids. Tend to be a little more slender than I think the king rats but still large.

I'm unsure of the latin name, but what about cave dwelling ratsnakes as well?

I like those as well, Aaron. If I had room, I'd probably have enormous collection of obscure colubrids. But, for my next one (and I need more room before I can even get one more large snake) I'd like to get something that falls into the "largest colubrid" category. I think there's some disagreement on which snake that is, but I'd love something in the 12' range.

Albert Clark · 04-20-16, 12:20 PM

Need room is my middle name. I know where you're coming from with that em.

pet_snake_78 · 04-21-16, 07:14 PM

My king rats are still small but growing fairly quickly. I enjoy them a lot, they have quite a bit of personality. Either snake would be fine with me. Another one to consider would be a CB or LTC red tailed green ratsnake.

**Aaron_S** · 04-22-16, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pet_snake_78

My king rats are still small but growing fairly quickly. I enjoy them a lot, they have quite a bit of personality. Either snake would be fine with me. Another one to consider would be a CB or LTC red tailed green ratsnake.

They are rather slender and don't get quite as big as the one's mentioned.

Very good choice though for something different.

eminart · 04-22-16, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Need room is my middle name. I know where you're coming from with that em.

If only we could all have that 2000 sq ft basement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pet_snake_78

My king rats are still small but growing fairly quickly. I enjoy them a lot, they have quite a bit of personality. Either snake would be fine with me. Another one to consider would be a CB or LTC red tailed green ratsnake.

How's the stink with them?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

They are rather slender and don't get quite as big as the one's mentioned.

Very good choice though for something different.

Yes, I've looked at them. I like them, and wouldn't mind having one, but not exactly what I'm researching right now.

Roman · 04-23-16, 03:57 PM

Hi eminart,

really interesting snakes you are asking for. I don’t have any personal experience with Elaphe carinata or Ptyas carinatus but from my experience with tiger ratsnakes (Spilotes pullatus) and red tailed green ratsnakes (Gonyosoma oxycephalum) I might give you at least some hints.

Elaphe carinata usually stays between 150 and 200 cm in total length (5 – 7 ft), they might reach up to 250 cm (8 ft) but most individuals stay smaller. I read one comment in a German forum who claimed that his adult snakes didn’t musk any longer, only the young and subadult snakes did use their glands. This might be because of the acclimatization, so I wouldn’t bet any large amounts of money on this with a new snake.

I don’t have a lot of information about Ptyas carinatus, what I found is that they like to climb and that they are active and agile with a bad disposition. In order to keep such a large snake you might need a huge enclosure. So if you really consider keeping (and enjoying) such a huge snake you might need at least something like 300 x 90 x 200 cm (10 x 3 x 7 ft). My enclosure for my Spilotes is 250 x 90 x 190 cm, I use 3 light bulps with 70 watts each for lighting and heating, for such a large enclosure you might probably need 4 bulps with 280 watts. So your power consumption might get even higher than it is right now…

There is also the disposition of this snake. My Spilotes are really easy to handle, usually I don’t need any gloves but can handle them with my bare hands without getting bitten. However during feeding time it is a completely different ballgame, they can enter a state like a feeding frenzy. Trying to control an agitated 280 cm (9 ft) long snake which tries to bite anything it can reach is an interesting experience. Now imagine that with a 400 cm (13 ft) snake which can go for your face without any difficulty…

Spilotes pullatus is a great snake to keep and from my experience even wild caught snakes calm down within a really short time if you provide them with a large enclosure. If you are interested search for my threads about them to get some ideas and don’t hesitate to ask me any question you might have.

The same is true for Gonyosoma, they stay smaller than Spilotes and don’t need that much room. I keep 2.1 adults in an enclosure 120 x 70 x 150 cm (4 x 2 x 5 ft).

I will get two Spilotes (Pseustes) sulphureus next month, This is another large colubrid, they might get a little longer than Spilotes pullatus and they seem to be a little more sturdy. I am really curious about their temperament…

Roman