Black Rats, Why so little respect?

[GreyGhost]

My favorite snake of all time has to be the black rat snake.Maybe its because my first snake was a black rat. So I guess Ill get on my soapbox for a minute. LOL. I just wanted to know why they are so hard to find and why you don't really see a lot of people keeping and breeding them? I realize they only cost $20-$30 and the only morph I currently know of is albino, but they are great snakes and every one I have ever had with the exception of one wc snake I had, has never had any major problems and have been very tame, easy to handle, and tolerate handling very well. So is the reason people don't keep and breed them because there are not a lot of morphs and they are fairly inexpensive to buy?

[medusacoils]

I think you said it yourself. There isn't a lot of variation in the morphs yet. Probably because there really isn't someone working to unlock their secrets. When Corns were first "domesticated" <~(for lack of a better word), they weren't very popular and specimens were very inexpensive. That's because there were only Classics. Amels were far and few between.

Once people, but primarily Bernard Bechtel, began working with them and identifying the different genetic morphs, they became a lot more popular.

I think time and a good breeding program could bring them into a more popular note.

Good Luck

Wayne

[GreyGhost]

Then from this moment on that is my task at hand. To work primarily with black rats and try to unlock some morphs. I really don't know where to begin though, as I have never tried to breed any special morphs and the only snakes I have breed were a pair of corns I had a few years back. I guess I should start by getting a good breeding stock of normals and albinos and maybe a wc or two just to get some different genetics in the mix. Set up a rack system and wait until they mature and see what I can do. If there is anything and i mean anything else anyone can think of please help me out here. I don't want this to be about money and I'm not even planning on making my initial investment back even in 5,8,or possibly even 10 years. I want this project of mine to be strictly about the "advancement" and study of black rat snake morphs. I'm not sure how much study and advancement I will be able to provide for the black rat but I'm going to give it my best shot.

[TaipanVenom]

I have too many!!! I got normals, white-sides, and albino white sides! Come to NERD!!!!

[Brewster320]

I personally love black rats, however they are illegal to own in Massachusetts(endangered here). I do own a black x yellow x gray rat snake though that looks more black than yellow or gray so I guess that works for me.
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk43/Brewster320/029-1.jpg

[rolandslf]

I have an Amel Male Black Rat and a Classic Female Black Rat(possible het Amel).
I can only start working with them in 2011 due to her being a bit small still and I am scared of him doing damage to her.

I will take some pics this wekend and post them on Monday.