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    Care Sheet - Black Rat Snake

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    John Gamesby
    The black rat snake is found in eastern and central North America. It prefers wooded habitats and is an excellent climber. Black rat snakes grow up to 6 feet long and can live over 20 years in captivity. They eat small mammals, birds, eggs, and other reptiles and amphibians. Females lay 12-20 eggs after mating in late spring, which hatch in late summer. Black rat snakes are semi-arboreal but usually sleep on the ground, and are active at dawn and dusk.

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    Care Sheet - Black Rat Snake

    Uploaded by

    John Gamesby
    416 views2 pages
    The black rat snake is found in eastern and central North America. It prefers wooded habitats and is an excellent climber. Black rat snakes grow up to 6 feet long and can live over 20 years in captivity. They eat small mammals, birds, eggs, and other reptiles and amphibians. Females lay 12-20 eggs after mating in late spring, which hatch in late summer. Black rat snakes are semi-arboreal but usually sleep on the ground, and are active at dawn and dusk.

    Original Description:

    Care Sheet For The Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus}

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    The black rat snake is found in eastern and central North America. It prefers wooded habitats and is an excellent climber. Black rat snakes grow up to 6 feet long and can live over 20 years in captivity. They eat small mammals, birds, eggs, and other reptiles and amphibians. Females lay 12-20 eggs after mating in late spring, which hatch in late summer. Black rat snakes are semi-arboreal but usually sleep on the ground, and are active at dawn and dusk.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    416 views2 pages

    Care Sheet - Black Rat Snake

    Uploaded by

    John Gamesby
    The black rat snake is found in eastern and central North America. It prefers wooded habitats and is an excellent climber. Black rat snakes grow up to 6 feet long and can live over 20 years in captivity. They eat small mammals, birds, eggs, and other reptiles and amphibians. Females lay 12-20 eggs after mating in late spring, which hatch in late summer. Black rat snakes are semi-arboreal but usually sleep on the ground, and are active at dawn and dusk.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Care Sheet Black Rat Snake

    Scientific Name
    Pantherophis obsoletus obsoletus
    Other Common names
    Alleghany black snake, black chicken snake, black Coluber, black pilot snake, black ratsnake
    chicken snake, Black Snake, mountain black snake, mountain pilot snake, pilot, Pilot Black snake
    rat snake, rusty black snake, scaly black snake, cow snake, schwartze schlange, sleepy John, whitethroated racer
    Range
    Eastern and Central United States. In Canada it is found in lower Ontario. It is found in northeast
    United States, in particular New Jersey(northern), New York(eastern) and Vermont(southern).
    Habitat
    Prefers heavily wooded areas and is known for having excellent climbing ability, including the
    ability to climb the trunk of large mature trees without the aid of branches. The black rat snake is a
    competent swimmer but usually (not always) uses this ability only to travel to additional hunting
    territory.
    Size
    120 to 180cm (48 72)
    Life Expectancy
    20+ Years
    Captive Variants
    Wild Type, Albino cinnamon, Albino Lemon Cowsucker, Albino Leucistic, Albino White Sided,
    Amelanistic T+, Amelanistic T-, Calico, Brindle, Calico Cowsucker, Caramel Albino, Cinnamon,
    Grape Albino, Hypomelanistic, Lavender, Lavender Albino, Lemon Cowsucker, Leucistic, Rusty,
    Ultra Black, White Sided
    (Some of these may be alternative names for the same variant)
    Housing
    Vivarium or RUB (plastic tubs) of appropriate size.
    Dcor

    Suitably large water bowl for them to drink and bathe

    A minimum of 2 hides (1 in the cool end and 1 in the warm end)


    1


    Climbing branches are advantageous but not essential
    Substrate
    Aspen, Beech chippings, Coco husk, Forest bark, Corn Cob, Newspaper
    Temperature/Humidity
    22C (72F) to 28C (82F)
    Heating
    Viv - Guarded Ceramic heater or heat mat
    Tub - Heat mat
    Use an appropriate thermostat for any heat source. Also use a digital thermometer to keep an eye on
    the temps.
    For ceramic heaters pulse proportional thermostat
    For incandescent bulbs spots and Infra red bulbs use a dimming thermostat.
    For mats, heater cable, heater tubes you can use any vivarium thermostat we recommend the mat
    stat.
    Feeding
    Natural Diet: Bats, Birds & their eggs, Frogs, Hares, Insects, Lizards, Moles, Rabbits, Reptile Eggs,
    Rodents, Squirrels and Weasels
    Captivity: Mice, Rats, chicks, rabbits of appropriate size the odd egg can be offered as a treat.
    Breeding
    Mating takes place in late May and early June. The male snake wraps its tail around the female with
    their vents nearly touching. The male then everts one of its sex organs, a hemipenis, into the female
    sex organ, cloaca. The mating lasts anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. After five weeks
    the female lays about 12 to 20 eggs, which are 3660 mm (1.4-2 in.) long by 20-26.5 mm (0.8-1.1
    in.) wide. The eggs hatch about 65 to 70 days later in late August to early October. The hatchlings
    are 2841 cm (11-16 in.) in total length, and they look like miniature fox snakes.
    Comments
    These snakes are a semi arboreal species who will hunt and even mate in trees but generally sleep
    on the ground.
    They are constrictors and active mainly at dawn and dusk.
    Hatchlings are often a bit nippy but can normally be tamed easily with regular handling.
    Juveniles are strongly patterned with brown blotches on a gray background (like miniature fox
    snakes). Darkening occurs rapidly as they grow. Adults are glossy black above with white lips, chin,
    and throat. Sometimes traces of the "obsolete" juvenile pattern are still discernible in the skin
    between the scales, especially when stretched after a heavy meal.
    They are capable of producing a foul smelling musk which they will release onto a predator if
    picked up. They spread the musk with their tail in hopes of deterring the threat.
    This species has previously been placed (and is still placed by many) in the genus Elaphe, as Elaphe
    obsoleta. However, Utiger et al. found that Elaphe as broadly construed is paraphyletic, and placed
    this species in the genus Pantherophis. In addition, because Pantherophis is masculine, the specific
    epithet becomes the masculine obsoletus. The split of Pantherophis from Elaphe has been further
    confirmed by additional phylogenetic studies.
    John Gamesby

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