Black Rat Snake

[catfishrod69]

Thats exactly what i figured. Being they are small and prey for alot of other animals, they must atleast try bluffing or defending themselves. Glad your male has a good disposition. What i had to do to get my red tail boa to take f/t was at first feed him a live one. Then the next feeding i put a live one in a bag and smacked it off a rock, mostly killing it, but keeping it kicking. Then gave it to him while still kicking. Then the very next feeding he accepted f/t. Not sure if this will work for you, but might be worth a try. Im sure you have probably tried cutting the mice/rats open a bit too. Ive caught some big females up here too. They usually are very laid back, and at most will poop on me. Alot of the ones i have seen also have little speckles still left in the coloring. What i think i will do for this little guy when he is large enough, is build a screened enclosure thats 3' wide x 3' deep x 6' tall. And give him lots of climbing branches. Then put a small light on top the enclosure.

A lot of baby Rat Snakes are what I like to refer to as "tightly-wound", lol. I guess when you're small enough to be on the menu of every potential carnivore from Jay birds to feral hogs, you would tend to be a tad edgy. As they get older, they settle down a lot. Most of the time. Once in awhile I run across an adult with a major attitude, but most are very laid-back. I caught a large(6+ feet) male a few weeks ago, as he was about to tempt fate by crossing a usually-busy highway in upstate SC, and he has yet to so much as vibrate his tail. Unfortunately, though, I'm having trouble getting him to accept f/t rodents, and he prefers mice over rats, in spite of his size, so feeding him is more of a challenge. He's such a sweetie, though, I might have to put up with that inconvenience, plus he's really BLACK, unlike most of the specimens I catch locally, which have a lot more Yellow and Gray Rat influence and tend to maintain a noticeable pattern(like the youngster in the op's pictures)throughout their lives.

pitbulllady

---------- Post added 10-23-2013 at 12:54 PM ----------

Lol that little guy was showing you that he doesnt take no crap! Atleast you were able to get him back out of the couch lol! More than likely he would have calmed down. Alot of snakes like that do very well defending themselves until they end up in your hands, and then they accept defeat and either try and get away or just sit there. My adult pair of albino checkered garters are vicious inside their enclosure, and i wont dare reach in there. But if i get them out on a hook and then put them in my hands, they calm down and wont bite at all. I did finally get snake bitten for the first time a while back, was by the male garter. He barely punctured the skin with a couple teeth, it was cute!

I found a little grey rat snake in Georgia last fall. Took him home just to photograph (he was in the trees behind my apartment there) and he proceeded to turn into a huge jerk. Now, he was like a foot long, so dinky little thing. Still managed to bite my dachshund on the nose, bite my hand, and escaped into the couch. I used a pair of kitchen tongs to get him out lol.

I put him in a small plastic tub with plans to release him after I showed my boyfriend. He struck and struck and struck while in there. It was like, "Aww, you're so small and angry."

Dunno if he would have calmed down had I kept him.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pitbulllady]

I found a little grey rat snake in Georgia last fall. Took him home just to photograph (he was in the trees behind my apartment there) and he proceeded to turn into a huge jerk. Now, he was like a foot long, so dinky little thing. Still managed to bite my dachshund on the nose, bite my hand, and escaped into the couch. I used a pair of kitchen tongs to get him out lol.

I put him in a small plastic tub with plans to release him after I showed my boyfriend. He struck and struck and struck while in there. It was like, "Aww, you're so small and angry."

Dunno if he would have calmed down had I kept him.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 2

You sure that was a baby Gray Rat and NOT a baby Racer? Baby Black Racers also are patterned snakes, silvery gray with black blotches, and easily confused with young Rats. They are spazzy like you described though, much more than Rat Snakes, and most pretty much stay that way as adults, too. The striking even while in the container, with no one bothering it, sounds like typical baby Racer attitude. I've never known a Rat Snake to do that, not even the most defensive.

pitbulllady

 

[Bugmom]

You sure that was a baby Gray Rat and NOT a baby Racer? Baby Black Racers also are patterned snakes, silvery gray with black blotches, and easily confused with young Rats. They are spazzy like you described though, much more than Rat Snakes, and most pretty much stay that way as adults, too. The striking even while in the container, with no one bothering it, sounds like typical baby Racer attitude. I've never known a Rat Snake to do that, not even the most defensive.

pitbulllady

I'm 95% sure it was a rat snake. The eyes were too small to be a racer. I think my dog is what made it mad in the first place, as Vern wouldn't stop sniffing it. That's when it became really agitated.

The snake was let go back outside no worse for wear, but Vern sulked for a week lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 2

 

[lancej]

I'm 95% sure it was a rat snake. The eyes were too small to be a racer. I think my dog is what made it mad in the first place, as Vern wouldn't stop sniffing it. That's when it became really agitated.

The snake was let go back outside no worse for wear, but Vern sulked for a week lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 2

Depending on what part of the state, it could be a gray, black, or yellow rat (babies and juveniles of the latter two are blotched like a gray). It's a good thing you released it, as it's illegal to catch non venomous native snakes in Georgia.

---------- Post added 10-23-2013 at 09:41 PM ----------

A lot of baby Rat Snakes are what I like to refer to as "tightly-wound", lol. I guess when you're small enough to be on the menu of every potential carnivore from Jay birds to feral hogs, you would tend to be a tad edgy. As they get older, they settle down a lot. Most of the time. Once in awhile I run across an adult with a major attitude, but most are very laid-back. I caught a large(6+ feet) male a few weeks ago, as he was about to tempt fate by crossing a usually-busy highway in upstate SC, and he has yet to so much as vibrate his tail. Unfortunately, though, I'm having trouble getting him to accept f/t rodents, and he prefers mice over rats, in spite of his size, so feeding him is more of a challenge. He's such a sweetie, though, I might have to put up with that inconvenience, plus he's really BLACK, unlike most of the specimens I catch locally, which have a lot more Yellow and Gray Rat influence and tend to maintain a noticeable pattern(like the youngster in the op's pictures)throughout their lives.

pitbulllady

You can try DOR squirrels for that big guy. If he likes them, you could probably get a few months worth in day.