black rat?

[Josh]

wow! awsome!

[enigma200316]

very nice Ben.................

[GarterGuy]

Ummm....hate to break it to you Ben, but that's not a rat snake, that's a racer....Norther Racer (Coluber constrictor constrictor) to be exact. They're really cool snakes......a lot more active then rat snakes and will eat pretty much anything....including other snakes. I've found one once chowing down on a garter, and I've heard they'll even take stuff like copperheads and such. Very nice, they're one of my favorite natives.

Roy

[drache]

both of them are beautiful
nice pics too
thanks

[Thamnophis]

Black Ratsnakes (indeed Pantherophis obsoletus) are fantastic snakes. i have kept them for years. And I take care of the yellow subspecies P. obsoletus quadrivittata in the zoo. Also very great animals. And we also keep P. obsoletus spiloides.
Recently we got a P. obsoletus lindheimeri and a P. obsoletus rossaleni in our shelter.

[vwsrcool]

ROY, thank you for clearing that up for me, i wasnt 100% sure because this snake is pure black, and all the black rats i have had before had a faint pattern on them, i guess i should stick with garters huh?

[GarterGuy]

LOL.....no worries. A lot of people mix up eatern rats with northern racers. I have to ask though....how is its temperment? Everyone I've talked to has said how aggressive racers are, but from the three wild snakes I've encountered, I've found them to be really mellow, to the point that they don't even mind being picked up and handled. I even have pics of my mother-in-law holding a wild 4ft. Northern racer that I had caught in DE..and she's NOT really a snake person.

[vwsrcool]

well ROY this one has quite a temper, i had to wipe a good amount of blood from my finger yesterday! it moves a little faster than me!

[GarterGuy]

LOL.......maybe they just like me or something??!!??

[adamanteus]

Bit late, but I agree....it's a Racer!!