So...who likes rats?

[Bry]

Ratsnakes, that is... This is my collection of ratsnakes. I'm currently working on collecting all the North American ratsnake species, albeit slowly. Post pics of your ratsnakes if you've got 'em.

female corn snake...a.k.a. red ratsnake

male corn snake

male black ratsnake

female Texas ratsnake

male gray ratsnake

....and just to stay on topic with the subject of this post...there's a rat somewhere in this picture

Enjoy.
Bry

 

[Valael]

It could just be an excessive amount of crack, but that last one looks a lot like a boa..

 

[atavuss]

nice corns there Bry! can you post a pic of your setups?
Ed

 

[scorpio]

Originally posted by Valael
It could just be an excessive amount of crack, but that last one looks a lot like a boa..

Yeah, but there is still a rat there...

 

[Bry]

Thanks, Ed. I don't have pictures of their setups. But, I will have to do that whenever I get a digital camera. My setups for all the ratsnakes are fairly basic. I keep them on aspen mulch (not shavings) with two hides on each end and a water bowl in the middle. The Texas ratsnake is the only one who doesn't have a hide. Her substrate is fairly deep, and she spends a lot of time staying under the surface.

Bry

 

[Lasiodora]

Bry,
You almost kept me from looking this thread with that title .
I thought I was going see rodent pics. Nice snakes. Have you ever seen the scaleless texas rats? They are strange looking.
Mike

 

[BigSam]

love that pic of your boa taking it to that rat thats a nice pic

Sam,

 

[atavuss]

Bry, why the aspen mulch and not shavings? less dust? where do you get the aspen mulch at? I have been using a new pelleted aspen product that works well. it has the least dust of any substrate I have found so far, absorbs smells and dries feces out so they can be easily removed.
Ed

 

[Bry]

Haha, Lasio...I was going for the surprise element there. I may have seen pics of the scaleless Texas rats. I have seen scaleless garters, and they are too weird-looking. They look like ugly amphibians, IMO.

Ed, the main reason I use aspen mulch is because it's more cost-effective than aspen shavings when you have at least a dozen snakes. I used cypress mulch when I lived on the east coast. However, cypress mulch isn't as readily available here because cypress is an eastern tree. You can still find it here and there if you really look for it, but prices are pretty high. Back east, you can get a 2 cu. ft. bag at any hardware store for roughly $2. Here, a 3 cu. ft. bag costs around $30 at a herp shop. Anyway, I got the aspen mulch from a local mom-and-pop garden shop that has huge piles of landscaping material. You basically just scoop however much you want in a large bag that holds approx. 4 cu. ft. and they charge somewhere between $1-$3 for the bag. I like aspen shavings, but the amount I would have to purchase would become expensive in a hurry. You could look around for local mom-and-pop garden shops and see if they have anything like that.

Bry