Quote:
Originally Posted by marker1
Gunna sound funny but I think these are THE MOst UNDERRATED SNAKE IN NORTH AMERICA.
But I want to see someone line breeding the Brightest Yellow rat snakes available. The only reason this snake goes unappreciated is because they are right in our backyard. If these were a foreign species they would be just as in demand as some of the wanted boiga spp. When I lived in Starke, Florida I saw no joke an almost 7 foot yellow/gold beauty almost completely absent of any brown and it was just the most impressive snake in the wild I had ever seen. And like I said if it was from africa or asia I know we'd be paying hundreds of dollars for them.
|
I'm not breeding them, but fyi, I have 2.2 c/b "Florida" rat snakes that I took in from a guy in Florida that couldn't keep them (due to loss of job & home)- that was back in 2009, & they were about 1.5 years old att. They're mostly Yellow rat snakes, but I think he also crossed in Gulf Hammock & Everglades- so they're not pure Yellow. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that indeed, my 2 males are about 7' long!
The females aren't as long, more like 5', because every year they insist on laying double clutches of infertile* eggs- a LOT of eggs! And I say infertile, because I've never bred them & to the best of my knowledge, they weren't bred before they came to me at 1.5 years old- BUT, some of the eggs they've laid appeared to be good eggs, & finally 2 years ago, I incubated those that looked good, & THREE of them did hatch! I'm no longer breeding ANY snakes & haven't for some years, but I do agree these are great serpents & deserve some attention with respect to breeding as pets. In the past I've bred Everglades, Bairds, Trans Pecos, amelanistic Black rat snakes, & various others, btw. I think in general that all the U.S. rat snakes are vastly under-rated as pets- while everywhere you look, we're knee deep in ball pythons.
