Black Rat Snake
Scientific Name: Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta
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Elaphe obsoleta, also known as the Black Rat Snake, is a long species existing predominantly in east of North America. It’s non venomous and calms down easily when in captivity. The Black Rat Snake is a large snake and may grow to eight feet in adulthood though they measure approximately eleven to thirteen inches at birth. As the name suggests most Black Rattle Snakes are black in color. The underside of their bodies is an array of different colors such as brown, black, yellow or white.
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Geographic Location
The Black Rat Snake is home to North America. The Eastern part of North America, featuring such states as Houston, Minnesota. Iowa, Wisconsin and Louisiana in addition some parts of Canada provide perfect natural habitatsblack rat snake large for this snake species.
Habitat
The Black Rat Snake likes to live in wooded areas thus preference for forested regions. It helps if such areas provide rocky surfaces that provide ideal hibernation points.
Behavior
It is important to handle Black Rat Snakes since they will most definitely bite. Their nervous nature makes them panic and easily attack. They are naturally shy and hide a lot hence they are rare to spot in the wild. Even though they are mostly diurnal they may embark on the occasional night time excursions.
Reproduction
The Black Rat Snake is an egg laying species that produces about twelve to twenty eggs in a batch. The mating process lasting some minutes to hours precedes this. The eggs hatch after about sixty five to eighty days.
Captivity
This species feeds by suffocating its prey by coiling around them and easing breath out of their bodies. Other snakes, bird eggs, birds, mice and squirrels will make a good meal for them. Branches could serve them well in their enclosure as is the need to keep temperatures at an appropriate level.
