Care Sheet - Everglades Rat Snake

Picture by Daniel Parker of www.sunshineserpents.com

Scientific Name
Pantherophis (Elaphe) obsoleta rossalleni
Other common names
Range
Everglades regions of South Florida
Size
Between 4 and 5 feet.
Lifespan
Up to 20 years.
Habitat
In open grassland, trees, shrubs and along water ways.
Housing
Minimum enclosure size of 36 inches X 12 inches X 18 inches. 2 hides, a water bowl large enough
for the snake to soak in and a branch for climbing.
Substrate.
Aspen, beech chippings or newspaper.
Never use cedar or pine because these can be toxic to your snake.
1

Temperature/Humidity
Daytime ambient temperature of about 78 degrees F and a hot spot of 85 degrees F. Night-time
temperatures can fall as low as 70 degrees. They require a humidity of about 65%, if your snake is
having shedding problems then raise the humidity.
Feeding
Everglades Rat snakes can be fed on a diet of mice and rats. Feed hatchlings an appropriately sized
food items (Pinkie - fuzzy mice) every 4-6 days and adult males can be fed an appropriately sized
food item (large mouse small rat) every 7-10 days.
Clean water should always be available.
Comments
This rat snake is a large rat snake with bright orange colouration with yellow belly colour with
hatchlings being pinkish to light orange with 4 longitudinal stripes that fade when adult and in the
wild are usually found near water and are excellent swimmers.
The colour of the everglades rat snake varies with age. Youngsters have grey blotches on an
orange/rust background. Adults still have the rust/orange background, but they have 4 stripes
running the length of the body

John Gamesby