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Could someone explain the difference

snakewispera snr

snakewispera snr

The Devils Advocate
Could someone explain the difference between cornsnakes and ratsnakes.
I know they are not the same snake but I'm not the greatest at telling cornsnakes apart,(RO AMELS MOTLEYS HYPOS etc.) I've looked at them all and still can't work out what is what. So when it comes to rats and corns I'm lost as to the difference. I know some rats get a bit bigger and they tend to have a musk smell to them and some can be a bit fiesty. but when they're small they all look like just snakes to me. Is it a physiological difference.
Someone help,I can't let Jr win on the I.D. score.
P.S. he's try ed to explain it to me but reckons I'm just thick(cheeky Lil git)
rolleyes.gif
 
Rat snakes and cornsnakes fall under different subspecies. Technically, a corn snake could also be considered a rat snake, and it's for this reason that it has the second name of 'Red Rat Snake.' Generally speaking, the main difference between different rat snakes and cornsnakes are like the differences between a German Shepherd Dog and a Jack Russel. Rat snakes, depending on the type, tend to have a more moody temperment than the corn snake. Also, general characteristics of rat snake blood in a cornsnake may include frosting, a high saddle count, eye color (depending on the case), and they also tend to have a different head and eye conformation. The two are very similar and most rat snakes actually fall under the same species, so I can understand the confusion. It's also why I personally don't like to consider most rat snake crosses 'hybrids,' as that's a term used for outcrossing SPECIES. (Don't bite me on this.)

I could be wrong on any of this, and if so I'd love to hear corrections, but I do hope this helps.
 
A corn snake is a KIND of rat snake - the same way a dachshund is a KIND of dog.

All corns are rats, but not all rats are corns.

A corn is Pantherophis guttattus - other North American rat snakes include:

Pantherophis emoryi (Great Plains Rat snake - similar to a corn, but browner, with more saddles, shorter and stockier.)
Pantherophis obsoletus lindheimeri (Texas Rat snake - lives further west, larger body size like most Obsoleta rats, stroppier temperament, usually greyish-brown, though you get the spectacular bright-white blue-eyed Leucistics. Not all Texas have bug eyes.)
Pantherophis obsoletus rossalini (Everglades Rat snake - similar habitat to a corn, though they have the 'evil eyebrow' look, and these guys start off blotched like a grey and tan corn, but as they grow, they turn orange/yellow and lose the blotches - when they're full grown, they're orange striped snakes)
 
Isn't Pantherophis Guttatus the Genus and Species?

If so, I'd say they are more like dog to wolf than german shepherd to jack russell...

If not, I've just learned something new.. :shrugs:
 
i noticed that most rat snakes have a more "scalier" look than corns. when i look at a ratsnake next to a corn it looks like a corn has les bigger scales and a ratsnake has more smaller scales. Also their heads loook differently shaped, though it would probably be impossable to tell the difference without a corn to compare it to. thats just what i noticed....
 
tom e said:
Isn't Pantherophis Guttatus the Genus and Species?

If so, I'd say they are more like dog to wolf than german shepherd to jack russell...

If not, I've just learned something new.. :shrugs:
Click to expand...

*chuckle*

Domestic dogs are Canis lupus familiaris.
Grey wolves are Canis lupus.

So a Corn snake is to a "Rat snake" (as a whole, the family Pantherophis - not any particular OTHER species of rat snake, but any animal CALLED a rat snake) as a dachshund is to a dog.

The phrase "Rat Snake" just refers to (among other things) "members of the genus Pantherophis". Just as "Dog" is referring to "members of the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris".
 
Firstly all of you are correct in saying that the secret of identifying between the 2 is by looking at the head.
What I have noticed between the 2 is the pattern on the head. A corn snake has a distinctive v or heart shape on the head, of course this becomes slightly distorted in some individuals but the v or often almost heart shape is recognisable.
Your true rat snake does not have this v or heart shape.
Put a corn and a rat next to each other and check.
Please dont everybody shoot me down over this, just my observation.

Ciao
 
Ssthisto said:
*chuckle*

Domestic dogs are Canis lupus familiaris.
Grey wolves are Canis lupus.

So a Corn snake is to a "Rat snake" (as a whole, the family Pantherophis - not any particular OTHER species of rat snake, but any animal CALLED a rat snake) as a dachshund is to a dog.

The phrase "Rat Snake" just refers to (among other things) "members of the genus Pantherophis". Just as "Dog" is referring to "members of the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris".
Click to expand...

LOL!
I nailed that one for a bad answer! Double whammy even!!
I must spread some rep around before giving it to you again...
 
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