Size: 36" to 48"
Nature: Gentle
Experience Level: Beginner
The Baird's rat is a resident of the forested uplands and rocky wooded canyons of South Central Texas and Northern Mexico. Because of the remoteness of its habitat, it is among the least studied of the North American rat snakes. In the wild, it is probably an opportunistic feeder taking its share of lizards, bird eggs and young as well as rodents. It is named for Spencer F. Baird who was an administrator of the Smithsonian Institute during the nineteenth century.
Juveniles are colored quite differently from adults and are light gray with about 45 narrow crossbars and lateral spots of a darker gray. As the snake matures, the juvenile pattern gives way to four longitudinal stripes, two on the dorsum and one on each flank. Remnants of the juvenile pattern may remain slightly discernible in some adults. Adult coloration can be highly variable. While some forms are essentially drab gray snakes others have interstitial skin richly suffused with golden yellows or salmon pinks. Scales are weakly-keeled and are a light bluish gray. The scales of specimens in good condition typically exhibit a satin-like sheen.
Animals from the western portion of the range tend to have lighter coloration than more eastern populations. While is it a matter of preference, the more subtle coloration of western animals intrigue me. The light bluish-gray ground color and salmon and yellow highlights just seem to invoke remembrance of their southwestern habitat. I'm currently working with the hypo morph of this snake. As neonates hypos look exceedingly different from normal bairds. As they nature however, they lose the strange coloration and invariably mature into could be described as exquisite examples of light phased western population animals.
The caging requirements of this species are no different from that of other colubrids. Since they tend to be active and showy snakes, they will benefit when provided with a little extra room and some branches for climbing. The average Baird's reaches about four feet in length and is among the most docile of snakes. Captive maintenance of the Baird's rat snake should offer no problems for the beginning enthusiast. At the same time, this often overlooked rat snake can provide the more advanced keeper a pleasant diversion from its more commonly-kept relatives. Adults do well on a diet of appropriately-sized mice. Neonates (baby snakes) readily feed on pink mice and grow rapidly.
Because of its size, nature and ease of care, the Baird's rat snake makes an interesting subject for captive maintenance. Captive-propagation has made this species readily available though numbers may be limited. Select animals that are alert and have good body weight. If you follow these few steps, and provide for your new snake's basic needs, it should provide you with years of enjoyment and interesting observations.
