Are all rat snakes aggressive?

As was said, rat snake takes in a very large number of colubrid species! In general, while there are exceptions, most North American rat snakes are pretty calm and generally good pets whereas most Asian rat snakes are more flightly, whippy and bitey.

Mandarin ratsnakes are one of the exceptions, in my experience they are much closer to their North American cousins in temperament than any of the other Asian rats I keep.

Corn snakes are technically a rat snake as well and are very good pets. I also keep Trans Pecos and they are great pets. (I also got mine from Doug Kranich, in a trade, good breeder and very nice snakes!)

Here is my female Mandarin, Inara.

https://i.imgur.com/pyVfdMvl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/I1MLvpJl.jpg

And my female Silver Blonde Trans Pecos, Echo.

https://i.imgur.com/FoBOML9l.jpg

And my Silver Blonde male, Orlando.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JEY...BphX38nVbDf-GQ

What an interesting coincidence, Charis, that you got your Trans Pecos rat snakes from Doug Kranich also. Small world...:snake:

And I did keep a Beauty snake for a number of months, was a local find that needed a new home and I had been interested in them but not really sure about it. Anyway, I took her and did end up deciding that while a very cool animal, they aren't for me, at least right now. They are active, like to climb and get very big, very fast. I simply didn't/don't have the space for one and figured eventually I'd have to make or spend lots on a custom cage for her, as no readily available caging locally was going to cut it when she was full grown. So I found her another home.

She was pretty calm and docile for the most part but did sometimes have little flashes of temper. I'd definitely recommend getting one as a baby, even half grown and being used to dealing with temperamental Asian rats, she could be intimidating. I'd hate to deal with an 8 foot pissed off one! Should be sure it's handled lots while little.

https://i.imgur.com/ECYhYCKl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MMgtSsvl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xQRfZrcl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ow4CK67l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8b3M7hYl.jpg

I so agree, Charis, on starting young with c/b Taiwan Beauty rat snakes. I had gotten my unrelated pair as hatchlings, and yes, when they grow up, they
need SERIOUSLY spacious caging. ;) Mine (as adults) were vigorous eaters, but not "mean"....just not really beginner snakes either. A half-size "version"
would be far more practical as pets than the normal 8 to 10' version, lol.

I kept a spilotes pullatus for for many years, a South American rat snake of sorts, and that thing was a beast of a snake with an attitude to match. Beautiful, and easy to keep as long as it was warm and humid, and never missed a meal, but would bite anything that moved too fast for its liking.

Oh man! I am liking those Trans Pecos rat snakes more and more... I guess I am out of luck though because finding that kind up here where I am would be like finding a needle in a hay stack! :sigh2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jus1More

Oh man! I am liking those Trans Pecos rat snakes more and more... I guess I am out of luck though because finding that kind up here where I am would be like finding a needle in a hay stack! :sigh2:

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Would you be able to find someone that breeds them in the US that could ship to Canada? I know some people can, though my personal experience is limited to just one sale and it wasn't an experience I'm in a hurry to repeat. My Canadian buyer found the person for me to ship to, who could then get them across and handled all communication with the middleman, so I'm still not sure how hard/easy it is. It was pretty pricey for my buyer, I know that. Conversion wasn't kind to them and they paid shipping twice but might be worth it if that's the only way to get one of what you really want.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jus1More

Oh man! I am liking those Trans Pecos rat snakes more and more... I guess I am out of luck though because finding that kind up here where I am would be like finding a needle in a hay stack! :sigh2:

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You never know until you do some more research. I don't know if Doug Kranich is still breeding them or not, but try contacting him (I'm not on Facebook);
if he's NOT breeding them, he may know people who are, maybe even in your area? It's quite possible that some of his past customers are in your area?
For that matter, there are others (in U.S.) breeding them too, & you can check out their reputation before dealing with them, like on Fauna Classifieds.

I know nothing about shipping to/from your area (any border rules?), but some needles are worth searching a haystack for, just sayin'...these are cute, mellow
& reasonably-size snakes that are easy to handle, feed & keep. (They do great in a 40 gal. tank...they like branches etc.)

I own a mandarin rat snake myself and while very different, more active and a quick mover she isn’t aggressive at all. I’ve been tagged by her once and it was the first time I handled her after a few meals and she was and stillis a wee baby and it was totally my fault.

I’ve had her going on 6 months I think and not only is she gorgeous but very mellow every time I handle her. Hasn’t struck at me since that first time when I learned from my mistake and that was that. This species in my experience is a very shy species and she does spend a lot of her time hiding but I do catch her out and about at times. They are a cooler temp snake I don’t even run any heat source on the tank. I’ve heard they can be picky eaters and she went on one 4 week fast during her first shed with me since then she’s been packing away the mice and growing fast. She’s nearly tripled in size since I acquired her.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jus1More

Oh man! I am liking those Trans Pecos rat snakes more and more... I guess I am out of luck though because finding that kind up here where I am would be like finding a needle in a hay stack! :sigh2:

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Ta da
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