Re: leucistic black rat

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Posted by dg on January 13, 2001 at 12:37:33:

In Reply to: leucistic black rat posted by Craig H on January 13, 2001 at 09:14:54:

: Ihave been seeing leucistic black rats on the market and they are more expensive than the Texas form. Are they the real thing?

Hi Craig,
I have also seen those on the market, as well as leucistic grey and leucistic everglades. Are they the real thing?? This point is probably mute, since the end result is a solid white obsoleta with blue eyes. I don't see why anyone would even think of paying a premium just because the leucistic is of a different subspecies than lindheimeri. A white snake is a white snake.

>or are they the result of hybridization of the two? How can you tell the difference?

There is no way of telling the difference as far as I am aware of. Scale counts and such are very similar between obsoleta ssp, so they arent of much help in ID'ing them. Most sellers will tell you "These animals are black rats because they are tamer than Texas rats," or "These animals came from a wild caught leucistic from somewhere out of the range of the Texas rat." These are the two most popular ways I have heard these snakes ID'ed. Sorry, but I need a better explanation than that. How many captive leucistic TX rats could have escaped in the last 20 years? Quite a few I am willing to bet.

It's your money, spend it as you see fit. :))

MHO,
dg

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Re: well said ......dg Andre' 01/13/01 (0)

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: : Ihave been seeing leucistic black rats on the market and they are more expensive than the Texas form. Are they the real thing? : Hi Craig, : I have also seen those on the market, as well as leucistic grey and leucistic everglades. Are they the real thing?? This point is probably mute, since the end result is a solid white obsoleta with blue eyes. I don't see why anyone would even think of paying a premium just because the leucistic is of a different subspecies than lindheimeri. A white snake is a white snake. : >or are they the result of hybridization of the two? How can you tell the difference? : There is no way of telling the difference as far as I am aware of. Scale counts and such are very similar between obsoleta ssp, so they arent of much help in ID'ing them. Most sellers will tell you "These animals are black rats because they are tamer than Texas rats," or "These animals came from a wild caught leucistic from somewhere out of the range of the Texas rat." These are the two most popular ways I have heard these snakes ID'ed. Sorry, but I need a better explanation than that. How many captive leucistic TX rats could have escaped in the last 20 years? Quite a few I am willing to bet. : It's your money, spend it as you see fit. :)) : MHO, : dg

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