White-sided shed :)

I am determined to post anything related to my white-sided because there is a SEVERE lack of information and photography of white-sided rat snakes on this site! *hmph* And until they gain in popularity, you all will be getting regular updates on mine. :P

(Obviously, this post is very tongue-in-cheek. ;))

Perfect shed from a perfect little snake. "Little" being the operative word.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...ndstuff008.jpg

He's eaten twice for me now, and shed once. He still is very skittish. If I offer to let him just sit on my hand and go along at his own pace, he takes off. I have to actually hold on to him. I can't wait until he outgrows THAT phase... :rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mindibun

I am determined to post anything related to my white-sided because there is a SEVERE lack of information and photography of white-sided rat snakes on this site! *hmph* And until they gain in popularity, you all will be getting regular updates on mine. :P

---

Bravo! I was looking for info on them after I saw them at sewerfest and found NOTHING! Awesome lil guy!

Well, so far I think we've got things sorted out here. If you want info, I'll help however I can.

We definitely need more action in the rat snake forum....so go for it! That's a gorgeous little snake you have there! I love all the different species of ratsnakes...they're all so awesome!

What a QT Patootie!!! :D I have a friend that is working with them... really cool snakies!

I love the white-sided black rats! They are on my list of "must have someday"! Thanks for the pics!

I'd love to hear more about him. Personality, how much he stays hidden and how much he moves about his enclosure and stuff like that. Please share!

Thank goodness! I too am looking for info on these :gj:

I'm not committed yet but it will probably be one of these for me next - either that or a corn.

He's pretty active. Even when he's not moving about, he's usually sitting out in the open. I plan on making him a display snake when he's older because everyone thinks he's gorgeous. If I can tame him down a bit, he might be my "this one makes people unafraid" snake. :P

Here's where he spends most of his time hiding:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...estovet004.jpg

He's very reluctant to be held so far, but he has never bitten or musked me. I'll start handling him this week now that he has shed once and eaten twice. I give them a LONG settling-in period.

He lives in a 15q tub, with a wide water bowl (humidity at 60-70%), an all-over temp of 75-78 (The breeder kept them between 74-80) and he doesn't have an official "hide" but I keep the foliage all over the place. He's pretty much covered wherever he goes. When he gets bigger I'll be getting him some real hides. He eats a mouse pink every 7 days. (He ate his first frozen yesterday.)

And other than that, feel free to ask questions. They're supposedly very smart, learning to somewhat recognize their keepers. They get to be fairly long for such a slender snake so if you don't work with them, they can be difficult to hang on to.

Wow, he's stunning! How much do those usually sell for? I'd love to get one of them! I wonder..... Just kind of thinking out loud but I know there's been a lot of ratxcorn hybrids made, could that be something that could be crossed into a corn?? I know the babies would never be true corns again but still that would be awesome :D. (P.S. before everyone rips me a new one I don't condone hybrids it was just a thought :rofl:)

so this is a white-sided Black Rat snake, right?
There are also white-sided bull snakes and texas rat snakes.

I'm curious to know where you got yours and anything you've gathered in terms of temperament and handling. I've done some web searches but want much more first-hand info :gj:

"So this is a white-sided Black Rat snake, right?" Yes.

"There are also white-sided bull snakes and texas rat snakes." As well as white-sided Brooksi Kings. ;)

"I'm curious to know where you got yours and anything you've gathered in terms of temperament and handling."

I got mine in Daytona from a smaller company that had only three of them. The other two were TINY and not very pretty. This one was seemingly healthy, nice body shape (rounded and plump) and had a perfect pattern. The woman I spoke to said they were going to be phasing them out of their collection because no one had been showing any interest in them. Apparently they were "created"? "designed"? a while back, but the general public showed no enthusiasm. The project then became known only to people with a personal interest in them - those who "just liked them". At least, that's how she explained it to me. I saw three vendors that had white-sided rats at Daytona. All three were small, private businesses. I'd rather not say how much I paid for mine (it was a good deal) but I have never seen them for less than $75. I believe that white-sided rats are the cheapest of all white-sided snakes. The kings and bull snakes at Daytona were priced at upwards of $150.

As for crossing them with corns, I read somewhere that "all rat snakes are corn snakes, but not all corn snakes are rat snakes." (I'm pretty sure that's how it went. Maybe I have it reversed.) Anyway, the thinking is that corn snakes are a wider group than most people give them credit for. "Rat snakes" and "king snakes" are arguably part of that group (depending on whom you talk to) but we've kind of "split hairs" about it and gotten more groups. Again, this is just something I read a while back. I can't even cite it, so don't take it too seriously.

I thought the ones at sewerfest were only like $40-$50 but I could be wrong!

Huh, I'm definitely gonna have to keep my eyes open for some of them at the shows around here. I can't believe they're not more popular they're really beautiful! So is the husbandry fairly similar to a regular rat/corn snake?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mindibun

As for crossing them with corns, I read somewhere that "all rat snakes are corn snakes, but not all corn snakes are rat snakes." (I'm pretty sure that's how it went. Maybe I have it reversed.) Anyway, the thinking is that corn snakes are a wider group than most people give them credit for. "Rat snakes" and "king snakes" are arguably part of that group (depending on whom you talk to) but we've kind of "split hairs" about it and gotten more groups. Again, this is just something I read a while back. I can't even cite it, so don't take it too seriously.

---

Right on the money.
However, I don't know how well a hybrid would survive. I haven't seen or heard of many, so I assume there are issues.
Rat snakes are a grouping of tons of different snakes.
Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_snake it explains many of the different branches and 'types' of rat snakes out there, one of them includes corn snakes. ;]

Edit: Also fantastic looking white sided! Others that I have seen pictures of are not nearly as beautiful as that!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fishmommy

so this is a white-sided Black Rat snake, right?
There are also white-sided bull snakes and texas rat snakes.

I'm curious to know where you got yours and anything you've gathered in terms of temperament and handling. I've done some web searches but want much more first-hand info :gj:

---

http://pics.livejournal.com/mooingtricycle/pic/000rwqqd
http://pics.livejournal.com/mooingtricycle/pic/000rxc6t
http://pics.livejournal.com/mooingtricycle/pic/000rtcse
This is My Whitesided Bullsnake :) Courtesy of Harald Moore

I LOVE Whitesided Black Rats! The really reduced speckly ones are my FAVORITES!

Yours has a gorgeous face, but I have to admit - I like the pixellated look of mine better. :P

Though, since yours is a bull and mine is a rat, I suppose that's like comparing apples to oranges, huh? ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mindibun

Yours has a gorgeous face, but I have to admit - I like the pixellated look of mine better. :P

Though, since yours is a bull and mine is a rat, I suppose that's like comparing apples to oranges, huh? ;)

---

LOL

Hey, cant knock a person for liking their snake better!:rofl:
Were all horribly biased to our own snakes, whether or not some like to actually admit it or not!

For a W/S Bull, I think hes definitely one of the BEST looking ones out there.

There are Salt n' Pepper Whiteside bulls too, that are more spotty, and have less clear sides. Theyre pretty, but too... dirty looking to me. The clean white is what really grabs my attention:gj:

As far as I know, there are no white-sided Texas rats.
There are however WS black rats, WS yellow rats, WS bullsnakes, WS "brooksi" kings, and WS speckled kings known as Whitewalls.
Their care is typical of most North American colubrids. I found this sheet on Google, http://www.marshall.edu/herp/Snakes/Black_Ratsnake.htm .
I house my pair in Sterilite boxes and house them on aspen shavings. They are fed rodents and my adults eat up to 2 small rats per feeding.

I also have some babies available.

When looking for info on them, you might also try "licorice stick" as this was the name they were coined with years ago.