Re: Yellow Rats

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Posted by bubba on November 20, 2001 at 16:40:34:

In Reply to: Yellow Rats posted by James Van Dyke on November 19, 2001 at 19:25:37:

James, James, James!
While I keep Yellow Rats, and like them because they're beautiful animals, I have to advise you that MOST of them show the temperment that sets E.obsoleta ssp. (Black, Gray, Yellow, Everglades rats, etc.) apart from E. guttata (Corns, etc.). I've probably dealt with a few dozen yellow ratsnakes over the years, and almost all have had a real temper. Think of it this way: whereas corn snakes are like the Labrador Retrievers of the ratsnake world, Yellow Rats can be more like feisty Chihuahuas. Most of them can be made hand-tame with enough attention (though this doesn't seem to be universally true), but most wild-caught animals (probably about all that will be available to you, if you're buying an adult) will be head-shy and tend to take a good nip at you every now and again. On the plus-side, this means that they're usually quite aggresive feeders. For some odd reason, my experience (and again that's all it is--my personal experience with a few dozen animals) has been that black, yellow, and everglades ratsnakes are often more aggressive than the gray rat. Anyway--I hope this is helpful. I don't want to be discouraging--just a little "heads-up" that you might have to work with an adult animal to "calm" it. Good luck!

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Re: Yellow Rats James Van Dyke 11/20/01 (0)

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: James, James, James! : While I keep Yellow Rats, and like them because they're beautiful animals, I have to advise you that MOST of them show the temperment that sets E.obsoleta ssp. (Black, Gray, Yellow, Everglades rats, etc.) apart from E. guttata (Corns, etc.). I've probably dealt with a few dozen yellow ratsnakes over the years, and almost all have had a real temper. Think of it this way: whereas corn snakes are like the Labrador Retrievers of the ratsnake world, Yellow Rats can be more like feisty Chihuahuas. Most of them can be made hand-tame with enough attention (though this doesn't seem to be universally true), but most wild-caught animals (probably about all that will be available to you, if you're buying an adult) will be head-shy and tend to take a good nip at you every now and again. On the plus-side, this means that they're usually quite aggresive feeders. For some odd reason, my experience (and again that's all it is--my personal experience with a few dozen animals) has been that black, yellow, and everglades ratsnakes are often more aggressive than the gray rat. Anyway--I hope this is helpful. I don't want to be discouraging--just a little "heads-up" that you might have to work with an adult animal to "calm" it. Good luck!

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