Different strokes for different folks,but for me they give me the willys

That's the reason I always feed with a frozen/thawed rat. A large rat can easily kill a snake that doesn't want to eat, all it takes is a bite to the top of their head. I hate hearing the rodents squeal too.

MHawk, the massasauga will have 9 large scales on the top of its head (unique in the genus Sistrurus) whereas the genus Crotalus will have several rows af very small scales on top of their heads.

That's a good looking snake. I had a corn snake for years(wife wouldn't let me get anything bigger) and love it when he was getting ready to shed and seeing the blue eyes.

Corn snakes are pretty cool, there are so many color variations to them and they are usually super docile. I would like to get another snake or two one day, I just don't have the room right now. There is some big money in snake breeding though. Think 20 babies around $200-$400 a piece. Pretty good chunk of cash there.

Redfin, I've been messing with photobucket on my phone to post a pic, but it's not cooperating right now. I looked at the pic that I have and I didn't see any massasauga rattlers with banded tails. My best guess, after a little more googling, right now is a juvenile western diamondback. It definitely has a white/black banded tail. I will try to get photobucket to work tomorrow.

+1

I'd like to see a pic of that rattler too. I'm fascinated by snakes but I keep my distance from venomous species. I had a bad experience once and almost got tagged by a western diamondback. I was at our deer lease looking for a lost pager for my dad and I was on crutches about a week or so after knee surgery. Had on shorts and flip flops and still had stiches in my knee when I heard that bad boy rattle. Once I turned around and spotted him, I was maybe 3 feet away. I will never forget that.

Hopefully it works now. I'd really like to know for sure too. I'll catch it if I can no matter what it is. I'm waiting for a live rattler and sizewise that would've been perfect. I'm not looking to grab a 5+ footer the first time.

That's one heck of a story Hawk.

Jim, please don't release the snake in the wild should you get tired of it.

I'd never release an exotic species in the wild, I know better than that. I'm a responsible pet owner.

If this is about the first post, then yes it is. It sucked trying to grab a snake with one arm. I got it and then had to try to catch all the damn mice. Urgent care after it happened was also fun.

Badass! Idk why ppl are so scared of snakes and think they should kill every one they see. 90% are harmless and wont get over 2-3ft. They make good, cool, very low matinence pets. Ill get another one some day. I saw a dude with a 21 foot 200+ lb tiger reticulated python... And i thought the snake in the movie anaconda was big lol

I just ordered a set of Midwest Tongs collapsible gentle giants with a belt sheath. Hopefully I will get to use them since they will only leave my car when fishing.