Hi, I am just wondering why I never hear of people keeping Black Rat Snakes as pets? I have a juvenile and he still has all of his colors and he is gorgeous. He bit a couple times when i first got him but now he doesn't. I personally think they make great pets and they are EXTREMELY easy to take care of. So why dont i hear a lot about people keeping them.

P.S. I will have pictures of his new shed in about 2 weeks

I know a few who keep them. They are gorgeous, and the one i held at a show had a great temprement. I guess they just didn't catch on as much as say, corns did, popularity wise.

i was going to get one but corns are so much easier to find. they get a bit bigger don't they?

I'm not sure how big corns get, but I have caught wild Black Rat's around my house that were nearly 7 feet. I would assume, with proper care, they could get even larger in captivity.

their biggest is about 9 feet. i like them better than any other at snake though.

corns are only about 4 feet so yea. and it's really hard to find cb black rats

Black rats are awsome. Definately a snake with personallity. White sided black rats are one of my favorites.

all of them have the white sides until they are adult.. then they lose them. mine still has his.

That is definitely not true. White sided is a single recessive genetic mutation in black rats. There are normals and white sided, and leucistic has also made it's way in---probably from the Texas stock. But normal black rats do NOT have white sides when they hatch---and white sides do not go away.

well everyone that i have had has lost its patterns when it got big. also everyone ive seen has had white sides except the ONE time i found one with red sides. but CalasCorns thanks for the info. i didnt know that lol.